Suspected car thief runs over police officer in ‘sickening’ attack

A police officer has been seriously injured after he was run over by a suspected car thief in Birmingham.

The West Midlands traffic officer was on Moorcroft Road in Moseley at 4.45pm on Saturday having traced a suspected stolen Range Rover Sport, taken minutes earlier from a woman on a shopping trip.

As he moved to arrest the man, he was assaulted and punched to the ground.

The suspect then ran him over, having jumped behind the wheel of the officer’s patrol car.

It is understood the man drove the marked police car for about a mile to Ladypool Road, in the Sparkbrook area of the city, where he abandoned it and tried to steal another car.

He was cornered by police backup who tasered him before making the arrest.

The officer is in hospital being treated for head and pelvic injuries, but his injuries are not life-threatening, West Midlands Police confirmed.

“He’s due to return to theatre later today [Sunday]. We don’t know his long-term prognosis at this stage and our best wishes remain with him and his family at this difficult time,” they added in a tweet.

Police say the suspect has so far refused to provide any personal details but has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

Assistant Chief Constable Sarah Boycott said: “This is a shocking attack in which a member of our police family has been seriously hurt while trying to detain a crime suspect.

“Attacks on our officers and staff won’t be tolerated and we will always seek the toughest possible criminal justice outcome for offenders.”

Home Secretary Priti Patel tweeted: “I am appalled by the sickening attack on one of our brave police officers @WMPolice.

“My thoughts are with the officer & his family. I wish him a good recovery & I am being kept informed of the situation following this attack.”

Sohail Razaque, a manager at BMV Solicitors, said he was driving to the junction of Ladypool Road when he saw a police car go past him, with sirens on, and crash into another car.

He said: “There was one car ahead of me and we pulled over to let police come past, and there were lots of sirens and a police helicopter.

“The police car went past got into the junction and then hit another car and skidded, and it turned round and went back a few dozen metres.

“There was some confusion up ahead then, and I stayed in the car.

“But while we were stopped I saw a man in a white shirt and red trousers, and he was trying to get into what looked like a white Nissan car.

“He half got in it, then got back out again and then he tried to get through some metal shutters that looked like it was a shop at the roadside.

“By then the police were already following him trying to get him to stop, shouting at him to get down.”

The 48-year-old, from Sutton Coldfield, said people came out of shops to see what was going on and overheard officers saying “it’s the guy in the coloured trousers” into their radios.

He said: “There were about 40 police, a lot of them armed, some had Tasers, some had guns.

“He was sort of almost walking through the crowds, with the officers following – and that’s where they tasered him and took him down.”

(c) Sky News 2019: Suspected car thief runs over police officer in ‘sickening’ attack