The man’s alleged crime spree yesterday morning also included ramming a patrol car and trying to steal a second vehicle after entering homes in the suburb armed with a weapon.
An officer at the scene said police spotted a man in a stolen black SUV speeding along the Southern Motorway at 10.40am yesterday.
When they tried to pull him over, he sped into a Green Island panelbeaters, almost ran over the owner, then rammed into a police car and two other vehicles in the vicinity.
The owner of the panelbeater business said it was a scary morning.
"I was putting some rubbish in the skip bin and some halfwit drives in at 500 miles per hour, tries to run me over, smashes into a cop car then drives away.
"It was a wee bit scary to have someone driving towards me then swerve away in the nick of time, but it is what it is."
The officer at the scene said the 29-year-old man allegedly stole the vehicle from a Green Island address at 2.20am.
At 10.40am an officer flashed his lights and signalled for the man to pull over.
The man responded by attempting to flee down Bideford St, driving into the carpark of a panelbeater business at high speed.
"However, when he realised he had nowhere to go, he spun around ... When [the car] spun around, it rammed its way up between a police vehicle and another vehicle, and hit a third car on the way out," the officer said.
Senior Sergeant Anthony Bond, of Dunedin, said the man dumped the vehicle in a driveway in Shanks St before fleeing into the surrounding bush on foot.
While he was fleeing, the man entered two residential addresses wielding a weapon allegedly with the intent to steal another vehicle.
The man was tracked through the bushes using the dog squad, when he was spotted by a member of the public.
He was caught near the top of Winifred St, Green Island and was taken into custody about 11.20am.
At the Dunedin Central Police Station, the man underwent an impairment test, which he failed, Snr Sgt Bond said.
"Currently, police will be charging him with 13 charges, ranging from burglary, driving while disqualified, failing to stop, unlawfully in yards and unlawfully taking a motor vehicle," Snr Sgt Bond said.
"The investigation is ongoing and further charges are likely as the investigation continues."
The man was held in custody with bail opposed, and will appear in the Dunedin District Court today.
Police asked members of the public who witnessed the events, and anyone who had CCTV/dash camera footage in Green Island about 10.40am, to call 105.
