Pedestrian injured after being struck by a car pursued by police - Metropolitan Police Service, January 2019

In the early hours of 1 January 2019, Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) officers attempted to pull over a black Hyundai, suspecting it was stolen. The car failed to stop but was not pursued by police. At around 4am, a separate police unit spotted the black Hyundai and started to pursue it. During the pursuit, the suspect vehicle struck a pedestrian using a crossing, knocking him to the ground and causing serious injuries. At this time the suspect car was out of sight and the police did not witness the accident. A few moments later, the pursuing police car passed by the injured pedestrian, but did not stop. The suspect car was then discovered abandoned, with the driver’s whereabouts unknown.

Our investigators attended the scene and the post-incident procedure in order to independently assess the collection of evidence and obtain accounts from officers involved. We obtained the police airwave recordings related to the pursuit, and additional accounts from the officers involved, in order to further clarify their actions. We took witness statements from the injured party, his friends and family present, and other witnesses to the collision. We also accessed police logs of the incident and were able to see the information recorded by control room staff.

We assessed the above evidence to ensure it was in line with national and local policy and legislation.

The download of the in-car data did not show that the police car was involved in a collision, this is corroborated by photographic evidence of the police car involved. The evidence clearly demonstrated that the pedestrian’s injuries were caused by the Hyundai. The evidence further showed that both officers acted in line with their training and followed force guidelines and procedures in their pursuit of the stolen car.

Based on the evidence available we found no indication that any person serving with the police may have behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings, or had committed a criminal offence. We completed our investigation in August 2019.

After reviewing our report, the MPS agreed.