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A man will appear in court tomorrow after a dramatic police pursuit ended with him and a police officer swimming across a freezing river and being trapped on an island.
The man jumped into the Ngaruroro River near Hastings to try and escape police after a high speed police chase of a car that failed to stop.
Senior sergeant Greg Brown, of Hastings Police, said Police Constable Jason Bryant plunged into the river after the man, the pair finding themselves stranded on a small island in the middle of the river.
Mr Bryant said later that he had learned to swim so he could join the police.
He said that he managed to talk the man into giving himself up after he went under a couple of times, swallowing some water.
They waded to the island to await rescue.
A rescue helicopter was summonsed to pick up the duo bringing them back to dry land where the fugitive was taken into custody.
Mr Brown said the 28-year-old man would appear in Hastings District Court tomorrow on charges that would include counts of reckless driving and failing to stop.
He said the man had an arrest warrant issued in June for his interim recall to prison and had escaped from the Napier police station on June 19.
Mr Brown said the saga began earlier in the day when police tried to stop a Ford Telstar car on State Highway 50, at Waipawa after it was clocked doing 130kmh in a 100kmh zone.
Police pursued the car which also contained two 18-year-olds.
The driver later lost control of the vehicle, abandoned it and ran off on foot.
He was pursued by several police officers before he entered the swollen Ngaruroro River.
- NZPA
