A woman and her two children have been released from hospital after they were struck by a police car which was pursuing a suspect’s vehicle. The mother and the two 10-year-olds were taken to hospital as a precaution following the collision at the junction of Narborough Road and Upperton Road, in the city’s West End, at 4.40pm yesterday (Monday, January 13).
Leicestershire Police said its officer had been authorised to pursue the blue BMW after its driver allegedly ignored an instruction to pull over. The family were walking toward the junction when they were struck, apparently at low speed, according to witnesses.
Today, people in the neighbourhood told LeicestershireLive the family were treated by paramedics at the scene before they were taken to hospital. A business owner said: “The woman was lying on the pavement. The ambulance people were taking care of her there, but then they took her and her children to hospital.
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“Thankfully it sounds like she and the children are all okay, although we couldn’t be sure of that at first. People were worried about them, but it seems the police car had slowed right down by that point.
“People said the police were chasing a blue BMW which just carried on going and didn’t stop. I hope that driver thinks about the trouble he has caused for this family.”
Resident Paul Campbell, 42, said: “It was right at the junction and you could tell straight away it was a crash because of the position of the police car. I didn’t know at the time whether anyone had been badly hurt, but the police car wasn’t badly damaged.
“I only heard later that a woman and her children had been taken to hospital and that’s why the ambulance was there. Hopefully they’re going to be okay. If they’re not badly injured they must at least be in shock. This must have been so scary for them.”
In a statement issued this morning (Tuesday, January 14), Leicestershire Police said: “As the officer driving the police vehicle attempted to pursue the car, a blue BMW, the police vehicle collided with three pedestrians. East Midlands Ambulance Service attended and a woman in her 30s and two children aged 10 were assessed at the scene.
“The woman suffered a minor injury. The children were not injured. All three were taken to hospital as a precaution but have since been discharged. The police officer was not injured.”
The BMW has not been traced, the force said. It added: “Officers are investigating the incident and ask anyone who witnessed the collision to come forward if they have not already spoken to police. A section of the road was closed for several hours to allow investigators to examine the scene.
The force said the matter did not need to be referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). IOPC referrals are made when police have been in contact with parties involved in a subsequent serious incident, such as a death.