A BRAVE police officer has told of the ‘immense pain’ he was in after a fleeing criminal rammed his police car head-on with a truck after leading officers on a 70-miles-per-hour chase through the streets of Rugby.
Police dashcam footage shows the offender narrowly missed a mother and child.
In a video released by Warwickshire Police (see above), the officer talks of the ‘visual scars’ he has been left with following the incident, and of the worry it caused his fiancee and two children.
On June 17 in Dunchurch, officers in an unmarked police car started following a man in a truck who was wanted for failing to appear at court.
The man fled – hitting speeds of 70 miles per hour in a 30 zone.
He sped down a single-track lane towards a children’s play area, narrowly missing a mother and child.
The pursuit led into Bilton where the offender lost control of the car and crashed into a tree in Alwyn Road.
The video includes footage of the moment he rammed the police car, injuring two officers.
In the video, one of the officers – who does not want to be identified – said: “His vehicle was facing our vehicle, he was about 20 metres away.
“I can very clearly hear it and see it now; he was revving his engine really loudly. That was our moment of ‘what’s he going to do now?’.
“And then he floored it and came towards us and rammed our vehicle head-on.
The moment the offender rammed the police car.
“It was quite a significant hard impact and it jolted my head and body backwards and forwards quite suddenly. I didn’t expect that to happen.”
The offender ran off and a short foot chase ensued.
The officer continued: “I wasn’t aware to what extent I was injured. My main focus was to apprehend this person who had completed some very dangerous manoeuvres, and was in intent of using his vehicle as a weapon.”
After the offender was apprehended, the officer started feeling ‘immense pain’ in his neck and shoulder.
“I was then taken to hospital and informed that I’d torn a muscle in my neck and one in my shoulder area. Not nice.
Three months after the incident, the officer still has a lump on his neck.
“I’m carrying a visual scar of the incident, and I still get a little bit of pain in my neck and shoulder. It’s not good.
“I’ve got a teenage son and daughter, and a fiancee. When you come home with an injury it does affect them. They go a bit quiet.
The offender (left, in hi-vis clothing) fled his vehicle but was was caught after a short foot chase.
“My worst fears are, what if I don’t come home that night? What if I’m seriously injured in hospital – or worse?
“We’re police officers. We face towards the danger rather than away.
“What we don’t expect is for a gentleman to use a vehicle as a weapon. It’s the first time I’ve experienced that. I think it’ll stick in my mind for a while.”
He said the positive feedback he and his colleagues receive from the public makes the job worthwhile.
“That, to me, is fantastic,” he said.
“We’ve made a promise to the public that we will look after them and take these dangerous offenders off the streets through whatever means, and that’s what I and my colleagues will continue to do.”
The offender in the video was sentenced at Warwick Crown Court last month to 700 days in prison after he pleaded guilty to two counts of assaulting a police officer, one count of dangerous driving, and one count of driving while disqualified.
Visit https://tinyurl.com/4f8r3d3n to read the report of the incident published by the Observer last month.
See above to watch the police video.
