By Heather McNeill
A man has died after an erratic driver allegedly ploughed into him and several other cars with two young children in the back of the vehicle.
Inspector Jason Van Der Ende said the incident unfolded in the Bayswater town centre on Railway Parade about 11am Tuesday.
Van Der Ende said police immediately responded to reports of a male driver in a silver Holden Commodore acting erratically and potentially armed with a knife.
“It’s during this time we understand there was an incident between the driver of the silver Commodore and another person struck by the vehicle,” he said.
“The silver Commodore was also occupied by two young children who were thankfully unharmed in this incident.”
The 52-year-old pedestrian was seriously injured and rushed to Royal Perth Hospital, but died later on Tuesday.
Van Der Ende said it was believed the vehicle had hit several other cars in the lead up to the collision with the pedestrian, but detectives were still putting together a timeline of events.
“The man in his 30s is in police custody and is currently being medically examined,” he said.
“This is a traumatic incident for all people involved, I want to ensure the community that we have the incident fully contained.”
A witness who wanted to remain anonymous claimed the driver was “accosting people in their cars” before the crash.
“He stopped myself and another car on Skew Road by driving his car head on to the car in front of me, and luckily, they stopped before he hit them,” she said.
“Then he got out and was putting his hands on the bonnet and yelling at us that he was going to run us over.
“Very scary … he was shouting things like, ‘I’m looking for my dad, where is he?’”
Anyone who witnessed the incident or has dashcam footage is asked to contact Crime Stoppers.
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