Car chase ends in arrest in Malaga

A SPECTACULAR Hollywood-style car chase through the streets of Malaga ended in the arrest of a 26-year-old man who had drunk almost twice the permissible amount of alcohol.

The hot pursuit began when a Guardia Civil checkpoint stopped the man in his Citroen Xsara near Cartama in the early hours of the morning. When he noticed that officers were brandishing a Breathalyser, the driver decided to step on it.

Several patrol cars gave chase, reaching speeds of over 130 kilometres per hour, as they sped down Avenida Jose Ortega y Gasset and onto Avenida Juan XXII before reaching Paseo de Antonio Machado, by which time the man was being tailed by a dozen police cars as local patrols joined the hunt.

At one point some pedestrians had to take evasive action to avoid being flattened, as the careering convoy burned rubber from one end of the city to the other, bowling through at least 20 red traffic lights. He was eventually sandwiched by two police vehicles, but continued to hightail it, attempting a daring, albeit miscalculated, escape through a gap between the road and pavement before losing control and crashing into an unspecified object.

In addition to being way over the legal alcohol limit, the groggy driver was unlicensed, possessing only a moped permit.