Police officers escape 'serious injury' during 'reckless' car ramming incident in Derry

Two police officers have escaped serious injury after a vehicle drove straight at one officer before ramming a police car in Derry on Friday, January 13.

Shortly before 9.10pm, officers on patrol in the area observed a maroon Volvo S60, which they believed had been alerted earlier that day for driving erratically.

Inspector McDermott said: "After stopping with this vehicle at the junction of the Buncrana Road and Upper Galliagh Road, one of the officers exited the police car and approached the Volvo, however the driver began to reverse the vehicle at speed, narrowly missing the officer and another parked vehicle.

"The suspect then drove directly at the officer, forcing them to jump out of the way to avoid being hit. He then rammed the police vehicle, with the other officer still inside, before fleeing the scene in the direction of Whitehouse Road.

"This was a reckless incident which put the lives of two police officers at risk, not to mention the potential of serious harm for any members of the public in the vicinity.

"Our enquiries remain ongoing as we work to locate the driver of the Volvo involved in this incident and I would appeal to anyone with information, including dashcam or other footage, to contact us on 101, quoting reference  1932 of 13/1/23."

Alternatively, you can submit a report online using the non-emergency reporting form via http://www.psni.police.uk/ makeareport/.   

You can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at http://crimestoppers-uk.org/