Offender broke into pub for 'a beer and a feed' after ramming police cars

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from Otago News

From reporter Olivia Caldwell:

A ute driver rammed two police cars, fled through three small towns and broke into a pub for a “beer and a feed” before his eventual arrest.

Police notified Moorings Restaurant owner Anthony Robertson that his venue near Cromwell had been broken into at 2am after they caught the alleged offender.

“He broke in through the door, had a beer and a feed ... and off he went. We weren't involved in all the rest of the carnage,” Robertson said.

He could not say which beer the suspect chose to drink or what food he ate.

The crime spree began with a family violence incident just before 6pm on Tuesday.

As officers responded, the offender drove his Toyota Landcruiser into two police cars, damaging them.

The officers were uninjured, Sergeant Derek Ealson said.

The offender then drove through three Central Otago townships in a chase that lasted several hours.

A dog handler from Dunedin eventually caught the man in Pisa Moorings, north of Cromwell, as he tried to flee.

“He was involved in a burglary incident, and was on foot. While on foot he attempted to damage another police car with rocks,” Sergeant Mike Calvert alleged.

The dog handler had driven more than four hours from Dunedin to pursue the offender in Central Otago.

Calvert said police were reviewing where police dogs and handlers were placed.

“The Central Otago region is growing and has the same need for dog handlers as further south, where there are five dog handlers.”

The alleged offender, a 35-year-old Southland man, was remanded in custody to face 11 charges, including trespass, attempting to take a vehicle, careless operation of a motor vehicle, entering a building with intention to commit an imprisonable offence, assault with intent, assaulting police officers, threatening to kill a police officer and contravening a protection order.

He is next due to appear in the Queenstown District Court on October 25.

“While this was an unpredictable and concerning incident, we want to reassure the Central Otago community that there is no further threat,” Ealson said.

Police wanted to hear from anyone with video of the Toyota Landcruiser as it was driven through Tarras, Wānaka, Lowburn and Pisa Moorings, or video of the man’s arrest.

Anyone with information should call police and quote file number 221018/3292.