A WA Police officer is fighting for life in hospital in “a very worrying” condition after being run over by an allegedly stolen vehicle in the early hours of Thursday – his colleagues forced to lift the car to free him.
A police spokeswoman claimed the constable, aged 28, was in a patrol car following a vehicle bearing stolen number plates about 1am when the car of interest came to a stop on Ascot Place in Ascot.
“Officers attempted to detain the three occupants of the vehicle and during the incident one of the officers was run over and dragged underneath the vehicle,” she said.
“The officer was administered CPR by his colleagues at the scene and was conveyed to Royal Perth Hospital in a critical condition.”
In a statement, the WA Police Union said the officer was pinned under the suspected stolen car while attempting to arrest the alleged driver, who put it in reverse and attempted to flee.
“We’ve said it before, policing is dangerous. Every day, our officers commit to putting their lives on the line to protect the people of this state,” the statement read.
“Unfortunately, the nature of policing will expose officers on the frontline to dangerous situations, but this behaviour towards our own, is vile and proves there are elements of our society that have no regard for another person’s life, let alone a police officer who puts others’ safety before their own.”
Police Minister Paul Papalia labelled the incident abhorrent and said family members and Police Commissioner Col Blanch had been at the man’s bedside overnight.
“A police officer doing his duty has been run down by some appalling individuals … he’s in intensive care, it’s a very worrying situation at the moment,” he said.
“Our thoughts at the moment are with the officer who’s in hospital and his family and also with all of our police who have been impacted by this event, but particularly I’m thinking about the officers that responded and assisted this officer.
“They lifted the vehicle and commenced CPR.”
The constable is understood to be a relatively new officer.
Three people are in custody assisting police with inquiries.
A 63-year-old neighbour who lives on Ennis Place was woken by “five or six” police cars outside his house in the early hours of Thursday.
“The cops were driving around the neighbourhood for about an hour and then they were all surrounding this one car,” he said.
The incident happened metres from Swan River Hotel on Epsom Avenue.
Forensics officers were still combing through the abandoned vehicle on Thursday morning and analysing the area for evidence.
The street is still cordoned off.