Teen in court over nailgun threat

A teenager will appear in Dunedin District Court after a police officer was threatened with a nailgun at the weekend.

The 17-year-old faces charges of aggravated assault, possessing an airgun during the commission of an offence, two counts of criminal damage, theft of a vehicle, and driving recklessly causing injury.

Police were called after the youth, allegedly on home detention, cut off his electronic ankle bracelet before "causing extensive damage" to his Cromwell home in the early hours of Saturday morning, the Otago Daily Times reported.

An officer was confronted by the teenager who pointed a nailgun at him and chased him down the street.

The officer retreated to a safe location and called for backup from Alexandra, about 30km away.

The youth then struck the police car with the nailgun, breaking the windscreen and two front windows and damaging the bonnet.

The teenager then drove off towards Alexandra.

Police attempted to stop him in Alexandra using flashing lights and sirens, but the youth continued towards Roxburgh, reaching up to 150km/h on State Highway 8 in 'atrocious' driving conditions, police said.

The teenagers crashed at Fruitlands on State Highway 8, was arrested and taken to Dunstan Hospital for treatment.

He was discharged later that day and taken to Dunedin police station.

- NZPA