A police officer and another man are being treated for hypothermia after a police chase ended in Lake Rotorua early on Friday morning.
Senior Sergeant Dennis Murphy says the police were called just after 4am by a couple who said they were threatened with a pipe wrench by a man trying to break into their car.
Sergeant Murphy says the offender ran off and was chased by an officer and a police dog for three kilometres, before running into Lake Rotorua.
He says after several minutes in the lake, the man became disorientated and was brought back to shore by the officer and taken to Rotorua Hospital.
Sergeant Murphy says a man will be charged later on Friday with breaking into a car.
