A man who was being chased by the manager of a licensed premises after stealing a bottle of alcohol, hit a police officer who was chasing him in the head with one of the bottles, NT Police allege.

Police media manager Rob Cross said in a statement that about 9.20pm on Wednesday police were patrolling the Alice Springs CBD when they saw a man with bottles of alcohol running from a licensed premises with the manager chasing him.

“Officers pursued the man on foot down Gregory Terrace before the man stopped and allegedly used a one of the bottles to strike an officer to the face,” he said.

Mr Cross said the 32-year-old was arrested and was expected to be charged with one count of stealing and one count of assaulting a police officer, and expected to appear in court on Thursday.

The officer suffered bruising and swelling to the face, he said.