POLICE are investigating after an officer was almost struck by a vehicle that evaded police at Capalaba on Saturday.
Capalaba Police Beat Acting OIC Senior Constable Sam Schofield said she was called to investigate a vehicle from which loud music and the smell of marijuana was reported to be emanating in Capalaba Park Shopping Centre at around 9.30am on Saturday, September 26.
Snr Const. Schofield said as she approached the Mazda CX-5, she saw a young woman at the car boot and a young man near the vehicle run to the passenger side of the car when he saw her.
She said she realised the situation “had changed” at that moment and she began running towards the vehicle, calling for them to stop.
“Two males were in the front and a female got into the back seat,” she said.
“I stood about a metre back from the front of the car with both my hands up in the stop position.
“At that point the car was still stationary and I was confident I could still stop them.
“For a second I thought they would stop, but then it changed and the driver moved the car up to me.”
Snr Const. Schofield said she realised she was “in a bad spot” so put her hands on the front of the car and looked into the driver’s eyes, telling him to stop.
“I then heard the engine rev and felt the heat from the engine,” she said.
“I knew I had to get myself out of there, and as I turned my body the car came straight for me and I scrambled across the car to get off the front of the vehicle while trying not to get my feet caught under the wheels.
“I had the feeling that they didn’t care whether they ran me over or not to get away from me.”
Snr Const. Schofield said the car, which was later discovered to have been stolen from Greenbank earlier that morning, hit a pole in the carpark before speeding away and was found the next night abandoned at Sleeman’s Sports Centre, Chandler.
She described the driver as being in his early 20s, with short dark, scruffy hair, a thin face with sores or acne marks, brown eyes, and possibly wearing a beanie or hoodie.
Snr Const. Schofield said she was worried she would be run over, but said incidents that placed a police officer’s life at risk was “part of the job”.
“We take an oath to protect life and property and we take that seriously,” she said.
“This is a service job and to serve the people of Queensland we will do our best job.”
She said investigations into the incident were continuing and anyone with information or who witnessed the incident could contact Capalaba Police Beat on 3843 8120 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
