Man seen eating grass arrested after high-speed police chase

Shortly after 4.30pm on Sunday, police were called to investigate a man eating grass in the Otumoetai suburb of Tauranga, New Zealand. On arrival a man ran into water and disappeared into nearby bush. He then entered a house, taking alcohol and a family vehicle. Senior Sergeant Shannon Clifford, on hearing a female screaming, arrived to find the man taking the family's car.

The man drove the car at the Senior Sergeant, hitting him with an open door, and drove over a letterbox, narrowly avoiding a collision with a parked police vehicle. Shortly afterwards, another police patrol spotted the man driving and tried to stop him. He then fled at high speed and a tyre deflation device was deployed. The driver allegedly drove directly at the police officer on foot, who had to run to safety. The car continued over a roundabout, directly at a parked police patrol.



Fortunately the police driver managed to move the car to avoid being rammed. He continued, losing a tyre while driving on the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic. Police abandoned the pursuit due to extremely dangerous driving. Following information from the public, police arrived near Tauranga Golf Course, and found the vehicle abandoned. Cordons were then set up to contain the man. At 6.50pm, police caught the male trying to run through their cordon.

Senior Sergeant Clifford said: “It was excellent work by all of my staff to contain the male within cordons and keep the public safe. I am relieved that no members of the public or my staff were injured during the incident.” A 28-year-old Tauranga man is due to appear in the Tauranga District Court facing charges of disqualified driving, possession of an offensive weapon, aggravated assault on police, reckless driving, failing to stop for police, 2 x assault with a weapon, burglary and unlawfully taking a motor vehicle. The owner of the stolen car apparently snapped his Achilles during the incident.