An axe-wielding Milton man had to be subdued twice with pepper spray and was involved in a 20-minute standoff with police before being arrested yesterday.
Sergeant Martin Bull, of Balclutha, said the 55-year-old was stopped by police on Union St about 1.30pm after being suspected of driving while disqualified.
He ran from his car into his nearby house, then came back outside, armed with a tomahawk, and began threatening the police officer.
The man was pepper-sprayed but managed to run back inside.
Armed officers arrived soon after and the man came back out again, this time brandishing a wood-splitting axe and threatening the officers.
Sgt Bull said the man again retreated inside and then came out again, armed with a different axe.
Officers again pepper-sprayed him and after a brief struggle, the man was arrested.
The man spent last night in custody and will appear in the Dunedin District Court today.
He will be charged with disqualified driving, refusing to give a blood sample, two charges of possessing an offensive weapon, one of resisting arrest and one charge of threatening police with an offensive weapon.
