KEY POINTS:
A 37-year police veteran is trying to come to terms with a weekend assault which left him battered, bruised and suffering concussion.
Sergeant Kevin Wellington, 60, began pursuing a car in Albert Rd, New Plymouth, at 8.20pm on Saturday after it failed to stop.
He found it crashed a short time later, with only the passenger inside. Mr Wellington was talking to the passenger when the driver returned and allegedly attacked him, leaving him bleeding and unconscious.
"Once he thought he was under arrest, he started swinging punches at the officer," Acting Area Commander Geoff Ryan told the Taranaki Daily News.
The pair took off in Mr Wellington's patrol car but were stopped by road spikes a short time later.
Mr Ryan said Mr Wellington was shaken by the assault, the likes of which he had not experienced in his 37 years on the force. He was on indefinite sick leave.
"He's at home, obviously bruised and battered, trying to come to terms with what's happened," he told the newspaper.
"He's well regarded by colleagues and the public."
The driver, from Waikanae, has been charged with assault. He and his passenger will appear in New Plymouth District Court today.
- NZPA
