By Luke Voogt
A police sergeant has miraculously avoided death after a blue sedan ploughed into him on Surf Coast Hwy, according to Geelong Superintendent Craig Gillard.
“I’ve seen the footage – he’s lucky to be alive,” Supt Gillard said.
“He’s been hit by a vehicle at high speed.”
Investigators were analysing police helicopter and dash cam footage of the crash, as the 56-year-old sergeant recovered in Geelong hospital on Wednesday, Supt Gillard said
The officer had been lucky to escape the high-speed crash on Tuesday afternoon with just a broken foot and finger, he said.
“I’ve spoken to him this morning.
“He’s incredibly banged up – he’s got marks all over his body. Obviously he’s incredibly sore all over.”
But the sergeant was in “pretty good spirits” considering the trauma of the crash and would soon undergo X-rays to assess the extent of his injuries, Supt Gillard said.
“He’s just working it through in his head and commencing his recovery.”
The driver of the car that hit the sergeant, a 21-year-old Melton West man, was under police guard at Geelong hospital in a stable condition, Supt Gillard said.
Police had been tracking the blue sedan following an incident in western Melbourne on Tuesday morning, before the crash between Mt Duneed and McCanns Rd.
The sergeant was standing beside a marked police car and attempting to deploy a stop stick when the sedan hit him about 1pm.
Supt Gillard confirmed police had earlier deployed another stop stick, a device containing 72 concealed spikes designed to deflate tyres over 20 to 30 seconds.
But he was unable to confirm if the previous stop stick had already deflated the car’s tyres before the crash, due to the investigation being in an “embryonic” stage.
Police had been tracking the man due to “very likely” mental health issues, Supt Gillard said.
Officers closed part of the Surf Coast Highway, north of Torquay, on Tuesday afternoon as Geelong Criminal Investigation Unit analysed the crash site.
In a social media post on Wednesday morning, police thanked Geelong locals for their many messages of support and patience during the closures.
“This is an extremely difficult incident for police to investigate, and some of those police members (who) witnessed the collision have been impacted by the events of yesterday,” the post read.
“Luckily the police sergeant has only sustained a broken foot and a broken finger and some grazes and bumps from an incident that could have been clearly a lot worse.”
Police urged anyone with information on the crash to phone Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report at crimestoppersvic.com.au.
