A 6km (3.7 mile) police chase of a suspicious vehicle ended when the driver of the pursued car failed to smash his way through a roadblock in a residential area of Ho Man Tin in Hong Kong on Friday, leaving two people injured, including an officer.
A video clip posted online shows officers with their guns drawn and batons out as they approach the vehicle after it came to a halt upon reaching the front of a line of cars stopped before the roadblock on Princess Margaret Road at around 8.30pm.
But the driver suddenly accelerates in an attempt to squeeze between two vehicles, becoming stuck. He reverses, slamming into an officer standing behind the car and continues until he crashes into the vehicle behind him.
Officers finally managed to smash the windows of the car and wrestle open the driver side door, pulling the suspect to the ground and subduing him.
A source familiar with the case said suspected illegal drugs were found in the vehicle. Officers from the force’s counterterrorism response unit were also called to the scene.
The insider said the officer hit by the car, a constable from the Kowloon West emergency unit, suffered injuries to his abdomen and was taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei, where he was listed as in a stable condition.
According to a police spokesman, a woman driver from one of the vehicles rammed by the suspect’s car suffered an injury to her neck and she was also sent to the same hospital.
Another source said the car chase began after police found the suspicious vehicle in Wong Tai Sin.
Officers from the Kowloon City district crime squad are handling the case.
In June last year, two officers opened fire on a car and arrested its driver after a bungled escape attempt on the same road that ended with a Mercedes-Benz and a police vehicle being rammed.
Police arrested the 25-year-old driver on suspicion of five offences, including drug trafficking, driving without a valid license and dangerous driving.
About 42 grams of suspected cocaine, with a market value of around HK$60,000 (US$7,700) and packaged in 80 bags, were found in the vehicle.
