Driver rammed police car head-on while being followed after hit and run: Winnipeg police

Winnipeg police say a 23-year-old driver, being tracked by the service's helicopter after a hit and run, rammed a police car head-on Friday night.

Police say they saw a car near Main Street and College Avenue around 10:30 Friday night that was believed to have been involved in an earlier hit and run, according to a Saturday news release.

The police helicopter and patrol units followed the car for about four kilometres to the area of ElliceAvenueand Young Street, where police say the driver drove head-on into a marked police car. He thenattempted to flee on foot.

A 23-year-old man was arrested a short distance away without further incident, police say, and taken to hospital as a precaution. Theofficers in the car that was hit were not injured, police said.

Officers found a samurai sword and a baseball bat in the vehicle that rammed the cruiser.

The 23-year-oldfaces charges related to assaulting a peace officer with a weapon and possession of a weapon.