A Dunedin man lashed out at police officers and a Good Samaritan as they attempted to stop him from jumping into traffic on a highway south of the city.
Chance Holmes-Larsen (23) was charged with aggravated assault, breaching release conditions and criminal nuisance after a night of drinking led to him assaulting police officers who were trying to save his life, the Dunedin District Court heard this week.
The man claimed to have no memory of his actions on the night of December 27, after consuming a large amount of alcohol and jumping in front of cars in the middle of State Highway 1 near Allanton.
A concerned member of the public attempted to remove the man from the road, before being lunged at and punched.
Holmes-Larsen was "mumbling, yelling and not making any sense" before police arrested him, the court heard.
He lashed out at police and spat blood at them while sitting in the back of the patrol vehicle.
The man was verbally abusive and kicked a female police officer multiple times in the leg.
"This was effectively one long series of events that went from bad to worse," counsel John Westgate said.
"He behaved very badly and criminally ... he has very little memory."
Holmes-Larsen showed remorse for his behaviour and wanted to meet up with the officers to apologise, the court heard.
"He perhaps should be thanking the police officers for saving his life," Mr Westgate said.
The man had been in custody for five and a-half months awaiting sentence and said he was focused on rehabilitation programmes.
"He has learned his lesson. The one thing he said that stood out to me is, he let himself down," Mr Westgate said.
Judge Emma Smith sentenced the man to nine months’ imprisonment and disqualified him from driving for six months on an unrelated matter.
