PATTAYA - A German tourist has been arrested after crashing through a traffic police checkpoint on his big bike on Jomtien Road in Bang Lamung district, leaving the policeman seriously injured.

Pol Col Navin Thiravit, superintendent of the Pattaya City police station, said the incident happened at 2.20am on Saturday.

A foreigner riding a Honda CB 650 big bike with a Bangkok licence plate failed to stop at an alcohol checkpoint. He sped up, crashed through the checkpoint and hit Pol Lt Rapeephat Phrommint, deputy inspector of traffic police.

The deputy inspector was knocked off his feet and suffered a serious injury when his head hit the ground. Rescue workers took him to hospital.

The foreigner, meanwhile, left his motorbike on the side of the road and fled into the bushes, and then to Jomtien beach nearby. About 50 police officers tracked him down and later arrested him as he walked out of the water at the beach.

When he refused to consent to an alcohol breathalyser test at the police station, he was taken to a hospital, where test results showed his blood alcohol content was over the legal limit.

Christopher Maximilian Walther, 30, has been charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, reckless driving causing harm to others and property damage; fleeing; violating traffic orders; and resisting officers performing their duties. He denied the charges.

The injured policeman is being treated at Pattaya City Hospital, said Pol Col Navin.

He will stay for observation for a few days because he has a small amount of bleeding in his brain and a small fracture of the bone behind his nasal cavity.