A MAN has been charged with beating a police officer along with a string of other offences in Abingdon.

Robert James Zasada, of no fixed abode, appeared yesterday at Oxford Magistrates' Court after he was arrested on Sunday.

The 29-year-old was charged with one count of burglary, one count of aggravated vehicle taking, one count of driving without insurance, one count of driving without licence, one count of failing to provide a specimen of breath, one count of assault by beating of an emergency worker and one count of criminal damage.

The charges are in connection with a reported burglary in Stonehouse Crescent, Radley, at about 2am on Sunday, when a Volkswagen Sharan was stolen from outside the property.

Later that morning, the vehicle was involved in a crash in Radley Road, Abingdon, where the vehicle left the road and collided with a tree and a lamppost.

Plain-clothed CID officers have since been in the area carrying out enquiries and asking residents for information, including CCTV.

Zasada was remanded in custody to appear at Oxford Crown Court on March 22.