The dramatic moment a man allegedly carjacked an elderly woman and started a furious police pursuit as the car crashed around him was captured on camera by a police helicopter.
Police are seen pursuing a man in a bright orange hi-viz jacket through the streets of the Hunter region of New South Wales in video footage.
The 33-year-old tried to hide in a backyard of a house in Beresfield on Thursday after leading police on a chase that lasted more than 30 kilometres.
The driver allegedly fled after police tried to stop a black Mazda on Cumberland St. in Cessnock at 3.40 p.m., according to police.
Until the car stopped in Weston, where the driver allegedly stepped out and approached a Mitsubishi Magna parked nearby, police abandoned the pursuit after it became too risky.
They said he allegedly forced the 67-year-old female driver and her passenger out of the vehicle before speeding off.
The reportedly stolen car was discovered on Anderson Drive near Beresfield by a police aircraft that had been dispatched to help, and it was then monitored from above.
His hi-viz fleece made him an easy target for the police chopper crew to trace when he eventually gave up the chase and attempted to flee on foot, leading officers on foot to his hiding place.
Shortly afterwards, a 33-year-old male was detained after reportedly trying to enter two further vehicles from a nearby garage on Emerson Street.
He was escorted to the police station on Raymond Terrace, but was afterwards sent to Newcastle’s John Hunter Hospital to be examined for a possible medical issue.
As investigations continue, he stays there under police protection.