Two arrested for cop ramming spree may be first to face mandatory jail time
Two men arrested for allegedly ramming four police cars in Melbourne's north may be among the first Victorians to be slapped with a mandatory jail sentence for the offence.
Four police vehicles were rammed after a dramatic car chase on the same day tougher penalties, including mandatory jail terms, came into effect for the offence.
The laws were passed last year, and mean that offenders cannot be sentenced to a community-corrections order, but face a mandatory two-year minimum jail term, with a presumption against bail.
Police arrested two men, a 26-year-old from Epping and 27-year-old from Preston, on Thursday following crashes at Bundoora and in an underground carpark in Preston, allegedly involving a stolen Porsche.
Officers first spotted the stolen Porsche on Edgars Road in Thomastown about 12.20pm.
When police attempted to intercept the vehicle a short time later on Grimshaw Road near Plenty Road, the driver of the Porsche allegedly rammed a police car.
The men then fled the scene in the stolen Porsche.
The scene at Northland Shopping Centre after police cars were rammed.
Photo: Twitter/@MelinaSarris7The car was then pursued by police into an underground carpark of the Northland shopping centre on Murray Road in Preston.
The porsche then allegedly rammed into another three police cars before the men fled from the vehicle.
Footage from the scene shows the smashed Porsche with a crumpled bumper bar surrounded by broken glass and debris.
Shocked shoppers looked on as officers used capsicum spray to subdue the pair who were wrestled to the ground and arrested.
The arrests come a day after Victoria Police minister Lisa Neville announced the tough new laws targeting those who ram police cars.
The scene at Northland Shopping Centre after police vehicles were rammed.
Photo: Twitter/MelinaSarris7From Thursday, anyone who intentionally or recklessly rams or attempts to ram a police vehicle will face up to 20 years in jail.
New offences that are intended to better protect police officers from violent attack include up to 20 years in jail for intentionally driving at an officer, up to 10 years for recklessly driving at an officer, and five years maximum for damaging a police vehicle.
“This is tough legislation,” Ms Neville said. “It is in response to the behaviour of too many offenders who have put the lives of police offices at risk using their vehicles, often stolen vehicles.”
There have been about 300 such incidents in the past 2½ years, Deputy Police Commissioner Andrew Crisp said.
The men were being interviewed by police on Thursday evening and are expected to be charged, a Victoria Police spokeswoman said.
- With Adam Carey and Tom Cowie