A Timaru man says he never saw his new found fame coming, after a video of him evading police on his mobility scooter went viral.
The hilarious footage emerged on Thursday morning. Double amputee Charlie Durham was on his way home to get his tea ready, when a police officer tried to pull him over for speeding.
In the video, the patrol car's lights are flashing as Durham weaves in and out of traffic, and then onto a footpath.
The officer then tries to manoeuvre around traffic to stay with him.
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He told Newshub he didn't want to stop because he was worried about being taken off his chair and thrown in the police car.
"The first thing he [the police officer] did was yell out the window, 'slow down!'"
Durham told Newshub he wouldn't usually take to the road, but he had to get home to get dinner ready.
"That's why I had to diagonally cross the road, and I was watching traffic.
"I wasn't really out amongst the traffic; the traffic had all stopped because of the policeman.
"I didn't intend it. I'm not really overly thrilled."
A police spokeswoman told Newshub officers visited his home later on Thursday, and provided him with a written guide on how to safely use a mobility scooter.
"Ultimately the safe use of the mobility scooter by the rider was the aim of the officer.
"Throughout the incident, the officer continued to assess risk to reduce any hazard risk to ask road users."
Newshub.
