A man has been charged after a police officer was run over and dragged beneath a car during an arrest, leaving him fighting for his life.
Officers were following the car, allegedly bearing stolen number plates, through Ascot in Perth’s east about 1am on Thursday when it came to a stop.
As they tried to detain the three occupants, a 28-year-old constable was hit by the vehicle and dragged underneath.
His fellow officers had to lift the car off him and attempted CPR at the scene before he was rushed to hospital in a critical condition.
He was placed in an induced coma and remains in intensive care in Royal Perth Hospital with his family by his side.
West Australian police on Friday said a 23-year-old Belmont man had been charged with multiple offences including committing an act intended to prevent arrest which caused grievous bodily harm.
He was also charged with stealing a motor vehicle, reckless driving to escape police pursuit, failing to stop when directed and possession of methamphetamine and a drug implement.
He was refused bail and is due to face Perth Magistrates Court on Friday.
A 20-year-old woman and 25-year-old man who were also allegedly in the stolen car have been released pending further investigation.
Police Minister Paul Papalia said the injured constable was relatively new to the force.
“It’s a very, very worrying situation at the moment,” he told reporters.
“This is something that every single police officer will feel … in particular, those officers that were at the scene and responded and resuscitated their colleague.
“It’s an incredibly hard, challenging incident and I feel for them all.”
Police Commissioner Col Blanch commended the constable’s partner and other officers who “did everything they could” to provide first aid and get him to hospital as quickly as possible.
“He’s got a long road ahead of him, but this is a time when the blue family does come together and we support all of our officers,” Mr Blanch said.
“This is not how we’re supposed to end our shift.”
– AAP
