A student who was stunt driving in his neighbourhood, ignored police patrols, endangered officers’ lives, resisted arrest and assaulted an officer following a 20 minute car chase, Dubai Criminal Court was told on Sunday.
At almost 4am on June 12, the Emirati, 21, was reported to police for reckless driving in Al Warqaa.
“The operations room received a report about him and had sent a number of police patrols to his location, then we heard a call for back up and responded to it,” said an Emirati police officer, 24.
He said the call mentioned that the accused was endangering peoples’ lives and driving his mother’s Mitsubishi Pajero recklessly.
Police chased him for twenty minutes in the residential area where the man drove at 100kmh in a 40kmh road, the court heard.
"We tried to stop him but he wouldn't stop. He drove towards us at high speed and when he was few meters away from us he hit the brakes, his car crashed into police cars pushing one towards the cement barrier," said the officer, who was inside the patrol car.
He told the court that he got out of the car and went to arrest the student.
"I opened the driver's door but he immediately shut it and grabbed my arm, then he reached out to a hammer on the passenger's seat to hit me with but I managed to free my arm," said the policeman, who suffered injuries from the crash and from the student's broken window.
A number of officers gathered around the car and arrested the driver.
"I didn't feel he was normal and when we finally arrested him, we found a syringe in his car, I think he was on drugs," the officer said.
Another police officer told the court he saw the defendant breaking the window deliberately. "He used the hammer to break it," the 37-year-old Emirati said.
He said the accused broke the window to escape but police quickly circled him.
The student did not attend court to enter a plea. The next hearing will be held on November 12 to summon him.
