South Yarra cop thrown in shocking driving incident while trying to stop alleged car thief
A police officer was sent flying as an accused car thief reversed an SUV in am alleged bid to escape, while another had to jump out of the moving car, a court has heard.
A policewoman who saw her colleague thrown into the air as they tried to arrest a man in an SUV has told a court of the “scary” moment.
She gave her evidence at the committal hearing for Jahdon Tamati, who is facing dozens of charges including aggravated intentional and reckless exposure of police officers to risk by driving, assaulting police and car theft.
The 31-year-old driver listened to the evidence of First Constable Laken Lanza, who explained the aftermath of the ordeal in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
“To be completely honest, it was pretty overwhelming and pretty scary given the circumstances,” Constable Lanza said of the incident.
She and her partner First Constable Ben Ellison both could have been severely injured or have suffered life threatening injuries, she told the court.
The officers approached the accused man, who was with another person at South Yarra in August 2020 because one wasn’t wearing a mask properly, according to a statement from First Constable Ellison.
Mr Tamati’s details were checked on the police system and found he was wanted for theft of a car, the statement reads.
The accused pretended to be on a phone and then ran and jumped into an SUV which he started up, according to the officer.
He revved the engine and reversed it despite both officers trying to arrest him and get him out of the car.
“I don’t think he really cared what he did, as long as he got away,” First Constable Ellison alleged in his statement, tendered to the court.
The court was told First Constable Ben Ellison was thrown into the air and slammed into another vehicle, while his colleague First Constable Laken Lanza was also partially in the car when it started moving.
Constable Lanza managed to escape from the moving vehicle before it drove off but couldn’t see her colleague and was concerned he’d been run over, the policewoman wrote in her statement.
“I began to panic and feared the worst,” she said in a statement.
During the court hearing she said the incident was a “pretty tough thing” to get over but she was able to return to work with only minor physical injuries.
Her colleague, First Constable Ben Ellisson, told the court he saw Mr Tamati reach into the waistband of his pants while in the car.
“I feared that it could have been a weapon of some description,” Constable Ellisson told the court.
Defence lawyer Leighton Gwynne quizzed the officer if he was angry because he had tripped and fallen while chasing Mr Tamati to the car.
“No not at all,” Constable Ellison told the court.
The officer said he didn’t recall telling the accused man: “come here c***” after he fell.
Both constables ran back to their unmarked police car to chase Mr Tamati but another officer arrested him shortly after the incident.
The officer who arrested Mr Tamati found him with a knife and told the court the accused man appeared to be drug affected because his behaviour was “heightened and absent-minded”.
Mr Tamati planned to plead guilty to most of the charges, his lawyer told the court.
He was committed to stand trial in the County Court of Victoria and will face a judge next month.