Cop shoots tyres of moving car to stop fleeing suspects in chase
KOTA KINABALU- A routine check on a vehicle where the passengers were believed to be a quarelling husband and wife, turned into a high-speed car chase which forced the police to shoot the tyres to immobilise the car.
In the 10.30am incident, yesterday, the suspect who was the driver and his two other friends who possessed no identification documents were trying to run away from the police.
Kota Kinabalu district police chief Assistant Commissioner Mohd Zaidi Abdullah said it all started when five individuals including a woman were stopped by the police mobile patrol vehicle (MPV) unit in Tanjung Aru.
He said the arrests of the suspects were made following a tip-off from a member of the public regarding a heated argument between a married couple inside the car.
"The MPV personnel instructed all the four men and the woman aged between 20 and 34 to step out of the vehicle for identification documents checks.
"A man and a woman who claimed that they were a married couple handed their MyKad to the police while the other two individuals said they did not bring their identification card (ID). The driver told the police that his ID was at the driver's seat," he said when contacted today.
However, Mohd Zaidi said three of the suspects including the woman then ran back into the car and sped, leaving behind their two accomplices, one of whom was the woman's purported husband.
He said a high-speed chase then ensued to the busy road of Jalan Tun Fuad Stephens, in the city centre before the driver stopped and dangerously reversed his car almost hitting the police car.
"This had forced the police to fire several shots at the tyres of the car to stop it, "he said.
Mohd Zaidi added that the police managed to detain the woman at a hotel in Sinuran and investigations revealed that the MyKad she produced belonged to someone else.
"The other two suspects known as Ijam, who was the driver of the Proton Wira car and Ali are still at large.
"Investigations under Section 307 of the Penal Code is still ongoing and the remand application against the suspects who were detained will be made to assist in the investigation, "he said.
A video of the incident which was recorded by some members of the public has since been circulating on social media.
The 1.45-minute video showed a yellow Proton Wira car which stopped in the middle of the road near a hotel in the city centre, followed by some police cars at the location.
