Man jumps in river during police pursuit

Police are searching for a man who jumped in the Waikato River following a police pursuit overnight.

Police began chasing the man's Fiat hatchback car shortly before 11.30pm after he failed to stop for police in Leamington, Cambridge. He was followed along Maungatautiri Road to Karapiro and back to Cambridge for eight minutes before he drove over road spikes on Shakespeare Street, Senior Sergeant Pete van de Wetering said.

He then drove into a rest area near the low level bridge at the southern part of Cambridge where he got out of the car and dived into the river.

Police searched the river edge with the help of a police dog and a police rescue boat, but were unable to find him.

"We are concerned for his safety because it is about a 10 metre drop where he dived in and there has been no sign of him since," Mr van de Wetering said.

"While we believe we know his identity, the officers involved in the pursuit did not get a good look at the man when he ran from his car so more enquiries are necessary to confirm his identity."

Police would continue searching the river today, and were considering using the police dive squad.

- NZPA