Two police officers injured after being hit by BMW during New Year's Eve celebrations
1 January 2020, 12:18
A 22-year-old man has been arrested after two police officers "sent flying" after being hit by a BMW driver who failed to stop after being chased.
The pair were hurt when trying to stop a suspected dangerous driver in Birmingham city centre during a busy start to 2020 for West Midlands Police.
Officers patrolling the entertainment district on Broad Street at 4.30am spotted a grey BMW which police thought could have driven off after a crash in Gas Street.
Noticing the 320i M Sport model was stuck in traffic officers approached the car – but the driver swerved through traffic cones and sent two officers flying as he sped off.
A police spokesperson said back-up quickly cornered the car in Granville Street where it became pinned between a wall and roadside railings as the driver made a desperate bid to evade capture.
A 22-year-old man from London was arrested on suspicion of assaulting two PCs, dangerous driving and failing to stop at the scene of a collision.
One of the officers suffered an ankle injury while the other suffered grazes to his head and arms from the fall.
Superintendent Jack Hadley, said: “Thankfully neither officer was seriously hurt – but when a car speeds off while officers are trying to stop the driver it can have very serious consequences.
“It was one of many incidents during a busy start to 2020 for officers across the force area.”
West Midlands Police said their call handlers took a total of 2,666 calls for help from members of the public between 7pm last night and 7am this on New Year's Day, including more than 2,000 emergency 999 calls.
