Two men have been dramatically arrested at gunpoint in a Hungry Jack’s drive-through in suburban Darwin after escaping an earlier attempt to nab them.

Video footage shows one of the men wielding an object towards two Northern Territory police officers in plain clothes who were pointing guns at his head and body.

The man, who was initially seated in the back seat of a blue four-wheel drive, also appears to attempt to move into the front seats of the car, during the incident outside the Coolalinga store on Thursday afternoon.

One of the officers was standing on the bonnet of a white 4WD that appears to have been rammed into a blue ute.

A second man, 31, seated in the front seat of the ute remains with his head down and hands on the steering wheel during much of the footage.

Uniformed police with dogs and armed plain-clothes officers watched the events unfold from a distance.

“This incident started on January 3 when serious crime started looking at a particular individual for a breach of parole, a 30-year-old male,” Detective Senior Sergeant Karl Day told reporters on Friday.

The alleged parole breach included the man refusing a drug test and barricading himself in a house.

“The man in question (later) came in possession of a stolen Toyota Hilux and his behaviour escalated from then.”

The detective said the same man allegedly assaulted people at a home in Palmerston with a crossbow two days later.

“About an hour later he returned and it will be alleged he was then in possession of a shotgun,” he said.

The alleged incident led to police launching the operation involving specialist tactical officers depicted in the video.

“This was deemed a high-risk operation due to the presence of the weapons,” Det Sen Sgt Day said, referring to the crossbow and shotgun.

“They waited and waited, all day basically, until he stopped at that particular location, providing the opportunity for the apprehension.”

Officers initially attempted to arrest the man at a service station about 4.30pm on Thursday.

“However, he managed to escape by diving into the back of the Toyota ute and they made good their escape from there,” Det Sen Sgt Day said.

The men were later spotted in the Hungry Jacks drive-through about 5.30pm and police moved in.

“Unfortunately during this apprehension, the male tried to evade police, reversed at speed into a civilian’s car causing major damage,” he said.

“During the arrest, beanbag rounds were deployed, Taser was deployed, (pepper spray) was deployed, and eventually the males were removed from the vehicle and arrested.” 

Det Sen Sgt Day said a second man was also arrested. He was later identified as “an active target” for alleged domestic violence offences and had outstanding warrants.

He said police at the scene found a shotgun, crossbow, ammunition and knives in the blue ute.

The 30-year-old remains in custody and is due to be charged later on Friday.

Det Sen Sgt Day said he is likely facing a slew of drug, weapons, traffic and violence offences.

By Aaron Bunch in Perth