A 29-year-old man tore a path of destruction across half the Island in a high-speed chase with Police yesterday morning after allegedly seriously assaulting five women.

The drama unfolded when an armed man, who cannot be named because of ongoing investigations by the Serious Crimes Unit, entered a Warwick home and seriously assaulted two women. The man then left that home and seriously assaulted three other females in another home in the Manse Road area.

While armed, he robbed one of his victims of their black Hyundai Accent GT and fled the scene just after 10.30 a.m. An hour-long car chase then ensued causing huge traffic disruptions across the Island and damage to several vehicles.

The black Hyundai hit a private truck as it left Manse Road. It then careened along South Shore Road in Devonshire, then on to Harrington Sound Road near Devil's Hole.

Assistant Police Commissioner Carlton Adams said Police lost the man and began a lookout, before sending several officers in the general area of the chase.

This reporter saw the black Hyundai overtake a car around the tight bends near Leamington Caves.

At around 11.30 a.m. the black Hyundai car slammed into a taxi near Walsingham Lane.

The Hyundai sped down Trinity Church Road being chased by several unmarked Police cars, witnesses said.

The man's final stretch began at the bottom of Trinity Church Road where he started driving west on North Shore Road near Bailey's Bay, Hamilton Parish.

At around 11.40 a.m. the Hyundai smashed into a wall on the eastbound side of North Shore Road at the bottom of Winton Hill Lane apartments.

The car is believed to be damaged beyond repair.

After the crash and a short chase on foot, a 29-year-old Pembroke man "was arrested by a number of officers. It was a team effort", Assistant Police Commissioner Adams said.

The suspect was taken straight to Hamilton Police Station.

The drama forced a number of routes to be closed for several hours. North Shore Road was closed to all traffic from 11.40 a.m. to 1 p.m. while the wreck of the black Hyundai was being removed. Fire Service personnel were in attendance at the crash site and a Police car, whose gearbox could not handle the high speed, long distance chase had to be towed off the road first.

The road was blocked to both east and westbound traffic from the bottom of Trinity Church Road in Bailey's Bay to the Aquarium in Flatts.

Another blockade outside Francis Patton School was still up at 1 p.m.

At a 4 p.m. Press conference in Reserve Police Headquarters, Assistant Commissioner Adams said the suspect was working alone without any accomplices and was now in Police custody.

He could not say when the man will appear in court.

But he did describe the assaults as "nasty" and "in broad daylight while the women were going about their own business" ? something that made Police "deeply concerned".

Some of the victims are recovering in King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, he said.

The Assistant Commissioner did not want to reveal what the robber was armed with, but he did say that none of the 40 Police officers involved in the chase were issued fire arms.

He also would not say if the chase had put members of the public in danger.

"There is always a degree of danger", he said. "But Police are taught not to endanger the public."

He said that devices designed to burst the tyres of fleeing criminals were not used in Bermuda.

Finally, he wanted to "extend his apologies to the public for the inconvenience of closing the roads. These things are labour intensive and do take time."