Fleeing driver who punched officer in the face gets home detention

Man who led police on a high-speed chase through Hamilton then punched the arresting officer twice in the face. Photo / File

A driver who fled police, scraped a cop car and crashed into two other vehicles before trying to flee on foot and punching the arresting officer twice in the face has avoided jail.

Rikkie George, 26, was sentenced to four-and-a-half months home detention and his driver's licence disqualified for 12 months at Hamilton District Court last week on five charges including reckless driving, failing to stop for police, failing to stop and ascertain injuries, aggravated assault on an officer and refusing a request for a blood specimen.

George led police on a high-speed chase at 5.10pm on Friday August 21, 2018, after failing to stop, a police spokesman confirmed.

He sped through the Hamilton suburb of Chartwell reaching speeds of 90km/h, almost double the 50km/h speed limit.

George eventually turned into Te Puroa Place off Wairere Drive in Huntington which is a dead-end street, narrowly avoiding crashing into the police car and instead scraping one side of it. The police car had "minor cosmetic damage", the spokesman said.

Unperturbed, he then continued driving and crashed into another motorist before hitting a parked vehicle.

At this point, George leapt from his car and started to run off on foot, but police officers caught up to him.

While the 30-year-old constable tried to arrest him, George tried to resist by punching him twice in the face.

The car chase lasted seven minutes.

He was taken to Hamilton Central Station where he was caught trying to hide a ring with a small razor blade. He had dropped the ring on the ground in a failed attempt to get rid of it before he was searched.

He also refused to provide a blood sample so his blood alcohol level could be tested.