Newsflash from the 'top-end'....

From the Northern Territory, the land with the highest number of brain surgeons and rocket scientists per capita in the world, comes the following.....

By Tim Arvier
National Nine News Darwin reporter

Drunk drivers can be inventive when attempting to evade police, particularly in the Northern Territory. Some speed off down the Stuart Highway, hoping officers run out of petrol before they do. And others just decide to get out of their car and run. Another man recently climbed into the passenger's seat in an ill-fated bid to convince police the car was actually driving itself.
One young driver has managed to one-up these methods with a bizarre escape after being pulled over for suspected drink driving.
Around midnight last Saturday, Constable Dale Howe and his partner were in their patrol car when they noticed a sedan "swerving" across the road. They pulled the car over and gave the driver a breath test, in which he registered more than .08.
Everything was proceeding normally until a brown one-metre snake suddenly slithered past the car. Constable Howe was stunned by the driver's actions.
"He [the driver] ran across and picked it up."
"He grabbed the head and faced it outwards at me. I thought he was going to throw it at me or something."
After repeated warnings to drop the reptile, Constable Howe told the snake-wielding aggressor he would use capsicum spray to end the stand-off. Not willing to risk enraging the potentially venomous snake, the driver ran off into nearby bush land still holding his recently acquired pet. Constable Howe courageously gave chase, but lost him in the darkness.
Any celebrations by the escapee will be short-lived. He's a teenager well known to police for his visits to the courts. They're extremely confident he'll be caught, and are preparing to charge him with driving under the influence, assault and driving an unregistered car.
For Dale Howe it made an interesting night's work.
"It's a bit bizarre. It's not everyday someone arms themself with a snake," he said.
When police catch up with the teenager, he may want to start thinking about how he'll explain himself in court. A lawyer would no doubt advise him not to follow the example of another young man who appeared before a Darwin magistrate for exceeding the legal limit.
When asked why he drove after drinking, he replied, "Because I'm a dickhead." "That," said the magistrate, "I can't argue with."