The man swam across the channel to Ōkiato, followed by police in an inflatable boat. Photo: Supplied
A suspected boat burglar has been arrested after jumping into the tide and leading police on a slow-motion chase in the Bay of Islands.
Officers investigating overnight boat burglaries were alerted to a man acting suspiciously in a dinghy near Ōpua marina about 3pm Saturday, a police spokesperson said.
He refused to come ashore, instead rowing towards the ferry ramp then abandoning his dinghy and swimming towards Russell.
Officers, including a police dog, followed him in an inflatable boat.
The man, who was believed to have a knife, made it across the channel to Ōkiato.
He eventually accepted a life ring requisitioned from the Ōpua car ferry but still refused to come to shore, instead remaining in waist-deep water, the police spokesperson said.
He surrendered to police on board a Coastguard vessel just before 4pm.
The man was taken, cold and exhausted, to Kawakawa police station to be interviewed.
The police spokesperson said the man had missed his calling: "He should have been a marathon swimmer."
It is not yet known what charges, if any, the man will face.