Philip Junior Hepehi has admitted stealing a car and using it to ram police officers who were in pursuit of him.
Hepehi, 39, pleaded guilty in the Rotorua District Court yesterdayto unlawfully taking a motor vehicle, reckless driving, two charges of assaulting a person with a blunt instrument, and one of theft excluding a car.
Hepehi was in Taupō about 11am on May 16 when he went to visit an acquaintance in a motel. He was unwelcome and told to leave.
According to the summary of facts, Hepehi left but not before taking the victim's car keys and driving away in their Isuzu Big Horn.
About 90 minutes later, two police officers pulled Hepehi over. He took off before he was spoken to and began doing burnouts on a grass verge nearby.