Senior Sergeant Anthony Bond, of Dunedin, said police were called to State Highway One near Waikouaiti at 6.45am after reports of a person driving their vehicle between 5-10kmh along the road.
When police arrived and signalled the driver to pull over, the 46-year-old man refused to stop and attempted to flee while continuing to drive off at 5-10kmh.
A very slow and short lived police chase commenced for a short time with the officer following at the same speed.
During the ‘‘chase,’’ the man opened the driver's door and dangled both his feet outside the vehicle and started looking back at the patrol car while driving.
As a result, he veered across the highway and crashed into a ditch on the opposite side of the road.
Police stopped, and the man exited his vehicle and attempted to attack the officer, resulting in him being tasered.
‘‘He has been transported to hospital and had a blood sample taken as we believe he was under the influence of alcohol,’’ Snr Sgt Bond said.
