Following a police officer’s car accident in Melbourne yesterday, a 20-year-old man has been charged and taken into custody.
The officer was hit soon after police responded to allegations of a stolen automobile in the parking lot at the Burvale Hotel in Nunawading, which is close to the intersection of Burwood Highway and Springvale Road, at approximately 2.40 in the morning.
When two males who were thought to be the drivers of the stolen car tried to escape, police swiftly built up a cordon around the hotel, according to Acting Commander Matthew Baynes.
“One male has boarded a vehicle, driven erratically through the carpark and onto Springvale Road,” stated the officer.
“Police members were looking to deploy stop sticks, the vehicle has driven erratically to avoid the stop sticks and collided and struck one of our members causing unfortunate significant injuries to him.”
A senior constable, 27, was brought to the hospital with injuries that did not pose a threat to his life. He is still there.
Although the member was doing fine, according to Baynes, his recovery would take some time.
“After the member was struck, he was thrown into the air and landed heavily resulting in his injuries,” he stated. “It’s a really tragic circumstance, our member has come to work to do his job and struck by a driver travelling at high speeds.”
It is believed that about 1:30 in the morning, the white Honda Civic hatchback was taken from outside a Ringwood East residence.
A short while later, the automobile was discovered abandoned on Vermont’s Tucker Road.
At 4 p.m. yesterday, a male from Ringwood East, age 20, who is thought to have been the car’s driver, was taken into custody in Ringwood.
Since then, he has been accused of a number of offences, including reckless driving, aggravated deliberate exposing of a police officer to risk by driving, failing to stop a vehicle after an accident, and careless driving.
A 32-year-old male individual has been accused of stealing a motor vehicle.
“We will allege the person arrested was travelling in the stolen car when it arrived at the hotel,” Baynes stated.
