Police located and pursued the vehicle as it travelled towards Foxton, where it was later abandoned on Bergin Rd at around 12.40pm.
Police dog units and armed staff were deployed to Foxton.
The man was located and taken into custody in the vicinity of the Foxton Golf Club just before 3.30pm.
Police are not looking for anybody else in relation to the earlier assault in Whangaehu.
Acting Manawatū Area Commander Phil Ward thanked members of the public for their cooperation.
Charges are being considered.
Earlier, a witness told the Chronicle that a car “came flying round” the corner of Whales Line, Marton, near the roadworks as she was driving back home to Marton.
“He was going so fast he became a blur, I could only tell it was a small dark car.”
It swerved partly onto her side of the road and flicked dirt onto her car, she said.
“About 10-20 seconds later, I saw three cops with lights and sirens following.”
Noam Mānuka Lazarus (Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara) is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle.