A man involved in a three-hour standoff with police at the Waikato River in Hamilton yesterday has been remanded in custody after appearing in Hamilton District Court today.
Shad Undersen, a 36-year-old farmhand, of Hamilton, faced 12 charges, only one of which, wounding with intent to avoid arrest, related to yesterday's incident.
The other charges included stealing money, threatening to kill a woman and illegally possessing a firearm.
Police were called to suburban Pukete just after 8am yesterday by a woman jogger who complained a man was following her.
When an officer approached the man and attempted to take his car keys from him, he drove off, dragging the officer for 20m behind his car before it crashed into a tree.
The officer was admitted to Waikato Hospital with serious injuries and was today reported to be in a comfortable condition.
The man, wearing only track pants, then fled to nearby Waikato River, where he stood waist deep in water and waved sticks at police while they tried to negotiate with him.
The threat of being shot by a taser, choppered in from Auckland because there was not one available in Hamilton, convinced him to surrender.
A suppression hearing over the police officer's name would take place in court this afternoon, police spokesman Andrew McAlley said.
