James Warren
A GUARDIA Civil officer remains in a serious but stable condition after a high speed chase on the A-7 motorway ended in a stolen van ramming a patrol vehicle off the road.
According to the police report, the driver of the stolen van is a 28-year-old British man with a history of criminal activity.
The incident happened yesterday at around 11.45am at kilometre 274 of the A-7 close to the Baviera Golf urbanisation.
The van in question was stolen in Motril, and belonged to a hospitality supply company, according to the statement from the Guardia Civil.
It is thought it was stolen during routine deliveries, before fleeing at high speed along the busy Mediterranean highway.
Two patrol vehicles began chasing the van, signalling to pull over numerous times but to no avail.
Eventually the van pulled parallel to one of the patrol vehicles and turned, ramming the officers into the central reservation and causing the car to spin violently into the opposite lane.
The van overturned, however the driver attempted to flee the scene, violently resisting arrest and injuring two further officers before eventually being detained.
In total, five officers were injured in the incident, including two 25-year-old trainee officers from Nerja and Benagalbon respectively.
The driver of the pursuit vehicle was thrown from the car during the impact, and due to his injuries, was airlifted to the Regional Hospital of Malaga with multiple concussions and lacerations.
The head of the Professional Association of the Civil Guard (Jucil), Ernesto Vilariño, gave his support to the injured officers and commended their actions.
“We regret that once again criminals use extreme violence to evade a police action, which in this case has meant that the Guardia Civil vehicle was completely destroyed.” said Vilariño.
“We hope for a speedy recovery of the injured comrades and we applaud the professionalism and responsibility of the agents who have intervened to arrest the author of this brutal attack.”
