Perth bucks party guest helps catch alleged car thief after police chase
A 32-year-old Hamilton Hill man has been charged following a dramatic police chase that ended with a crash in Cottesloe in Perth’s southern suburbs on Saturday.
Police allege the man broke into a home on Graham St in Spearwood about 12.20pm and stole a white Toyota LandCruiser sedan.
At around 2.40pm, officers located the stolen vehicle on Cockburn Road near Rockingham Road and activated the emergency lights and sirens, but the driver allegedly refused to stop.
The pursuit continued at Hamilton Hill, Coogee and Claremont; The driver was allegedly traveling at excessive speeds, running a red light and driving on the wrong side of the road.
It was alleged that the vehicle carelessly entered fields and changed lanes.
The incident ended at around 3.30pm when the Toyota allegedly crashed into a rental car outside a shopping complex on Station St in Cottesloe.
The driver fled on foot, but a group of people, including Bucks party guest Sam Page, stepped in to help police.
“I was leaving a good friend’s money party and I saw them running down the road and I thought, ‘Why don’t we stop what’s going on,'” Mr. Page told 7News.
“I went out and decided to be a hero. I feel like Australian of the year, I feel like I should be nominated for that.”
In arrest footage, the man can be seen pinned to the ground by an officer as a police helicopter monitors the scene.
A local shop owner said he saw the commotion and stated that the man “gave them a shoulder barge and knocked (the officer) to the ground.”
On Sunday, police charged the man with two counts of reckless driving to evade police pursuit, two counts of failure to comply, assault on a police officer, failure to stop, unauthorized use of a vehicle, aggravated residential burglary and motor vehicle theft.
The man was scheduled to appear in the Perth Magistrates Court on Sunday.
Police praised the public’s help in bringing the pursuit to a safe conclusion.
