Alleged drunk and unlicensed driver charged after 170km police chase

NSW Police have charged an allegedly drunk driver who led Highway Patrol on a 170-kilometre chase between Yass and Wagga Wagga.

Police were made aware of the man after he allegedly stole a case of beer from a grocery shop in East Murrumbateman.

The 55-year-old man was spotted travelling south on the Hume Highway near Yass in a Mercedes-Benz C180 Coupe, but failed to stop, causing the Police to engage in a pursuit at around 6.30pm on Sunday, November 27.

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The man was arrested in Wagga Wagga, around 170km later, after failing to pay for fuel at a nearby petrol station.

NSW Police did not disclose the maximum speed achieved on the chase, but the man who was allegedly driving without a licence has been charged with the eight offences below after returning a positive roadside breath test, and subsequent 0.040 reading on a secondary breath analysis.

The man was refused bail to appear in Wagga Wagga Local Court on November 28.

A police chase lasting 170km is by no means short, but is far from the longest pursuit in Australia's recent history.

In 2004, police pursued a couple in a stolen BMW 600km across the Nullarbor, and in 2015 a man was charged following an 800km chase between Seaford in Victoria and South West Sydney in a hijacked rideshare car.