Tourist stranded after police chase

A tourist whose rental car was stolen en route to the airport by a baseball batwielding motorist is suffering a second blow to his new year travel plans after realising his passport was inside.

The motorist led police on an hourlong pursuit in two separate cars, stealing the tourist’s rental car along the way. It took two spiked tires, a Taser and a police dog to finally subdue the 29-yearold man whose erratic driving prompted many emergency calls from concerned members of the public in Canterbury on Saturday night.

Christchurch woman Charlotte Westaway was dozing in the passenger seat of her car while travelling home from Hanmer Springs when she noticed a black SUV ‘‘driving all over the roads’’.

‘‘[The driver] pulled up close behind us as if he was going to pass, then just didn’t. We eventually had to pull over onto the grass and call the police. I thought he was going to kill someone, or himself.

‘‘I just read that a person a week died on Canterbury roads this year and people like that make you realise how it happens. It was the worst driving I’ve seen, swerving across the road on doubleyellow lines. You can’t just ignore things like that.’’

Police found the driver, but he failed to stop and led them towards Waipara on State Highway 1. Police successfully spiked his tyres, but he drove a further 8

"I just read that a person a week died on Canterbury roads this year and people like that make you realise how it happens. It was the worst driving I've seen, swerving across the road on doubleyellow lines. You can't just ignore things like that."

Christchurch woman Charlotte Westaway

kilometres on deflated tyres before stopping near Amberley where he threatened a parked motorist with a baseball bat.

Westaway said cars ‘‘scattered’’ when they saw the man approaching. The European tourist fled his vehicle holding his tripod and camera and attempted to film the heist, she said. The man then continued his escape bid in the stolen car, with the boot still wide open.

In his haste, the tourist left the keys in the ignition which guaranteed the man a quick getaway, she said. He soon realised his passport had also been stolen, meaning he would miss his flight.

‘‘He was pretty angry, he was yelling and threw his camera on the road. It was pretty awful but probably not the best idea to try and film him.’’

Police continued the pursuit and spiked the second car on Tulls Rd, Waikuku, north of Christchurch.

The offender drove a further 11km before the car stopped in Revells Rd, Tuahiwi.

The man got out of the car with the baseball bat and threatened police before he was Tasered, but it took a police dog to finally end the ordeal.

Inspector Hirone Waretini said police received reports of a man driving dangerously in the Waikari area on SH7 at 4.20pm on Saturday.

‘‘Many motorists called police about his manner of driving, which included passing on blind corners, passing on double-yellow lines speeding and tailgaiting,’’ he said.

‘‘The stolen rental vehicle sustained significant wheel rim damage but thankfully no members of the public or police staff were injured in this violent driving episode,’’ Waretini said.

‘‘This manner of driving is complete madness at this time of the year, or at any time of the year and could have caused a great deal of carnage on our road if we had not stopped him – it’s incredibly disappointing when people fail to stop for police.’’

The man would appear in court today on charges including aggravated robbery, assault with a weapon and driving charges.