Officers say that the trouble began when they were alerted that a man was asleep in the back of his car at a petrol pump at a service station in Copthorne Common Road, Copthorne.
Two police cars arrived on the scene, one parking behind the vehicle and one in front.
Police say that the man - landscape gardener Patrick McCabe - woke up and rammed the police car parked behind his vehicle before speeding off.
Officers, assisted by the police helicopter, pursued 24-year-old McCabe who, they say, ‘drove with excessive speed, almost collided with a transit tipper van and even drove on the wrong side of the dual carriageway.’
McCabe was tracked driving down a pedestrian path before fleeing from the vehicle and attempting to hide underneath a car in a nearby hotel carpark.
He was detained by officers and charged with dangerous driving, driving without a licence, driving without insurance and two counts of criminal damage.
And at Lewes Crown Court on December 20, McCabe, from Caterham, was given a 19-month jail sentence, suspended for two years and disqualified from driving for two years.
He was also required to undertake 15 rehabilitation activity days.