Fleeing father leaves child in pram: Police

A man who may have been attempting to sell cannabis to tourists ran from police leaving his 11-month-old baby behind.

A man allegedly trying to sell drugs to tourists abandoned his 11-month-old in a pram on a Northland street when he fled, police say.

Members of the public called police just before 7pm on Saturday to report a man offering cannabis to tourists on Paihia's backpacker strip while pushing a pram with a young child.

Sergeant Peter Masters, of Kerikeri police, said a constable soon located the man on Kings Rd.

"But when he went to speak to him, the male ran off and jumped over a fence, leaving his 11-month-old child in the pram," Mr Masters said.

The constable, Guy Bradley, chased the man about 200m through a series of properties before catching and arresting him.

He was charged with possession of cannabis, offering to supply cannabis, obstruction of a police officer, and leaving a child under 14 without reasonable supervision.

The 27-year-old, who lives in Paihia but had connections to the Russell area, is due to appear in the Kaikohe District Court on February 13.

Meanwhile, another Northland father gained police and CYF attention at the weekend after crashing his car allegedly while almost four times over the legal limit, with his 3-year-old son in the back seat.

According to police, the 30-year-old lost control of his car at Pukenui, about 50km north of Kaitaia, on Saturday evening.

The car left the road, crashed and burst into flames.

Police said the driver and his son were able to get out before the car was engulfed. Neither was injured.

The police described the Kaitaia man as "very drunk" at the time and said he had subsequently recorded a breath-alcohol level of 962 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath - almost four times the legal limit of 250mcg.

The man has been charged with drink driving and careless use of a motor vehicle.