By Hollie Harris
A POLICE officer had his leg crushed between two getaway cars after trying to stop a robbery at the Cooroy Mitre 10 early Monday morning.
Sergeant Mal Scott was off-duty when he responded to reports of the 2 January robbery.
When he arrived he caught a gang of men, wearing balaclavas and carrying sledgehammers, attempting to flee the scene.
Sgt Scott was wrestling one of thieves when he was hit by a vehicle driven by another one of the offenders and pinned against another car.
Superintendent Darryl Johnson said the sergeant received non-life-threatening injuries and was rushed to Nambour Hospital for treatment.
“He’s in pretty good spirits. He’s sore, being treated in hospital and hopefully he’ll be released later today,“ Supt Johnson said on Tuesday.
He said the local officer-in-charge was a well-known local figure, who was responding to a call to him personally by a member of the public.
“The actions of the officer were very courageous,” he said. “He was alone, and that’s the nature of country policing on occasion is that you attend these incidents by yourself.
“A number of these incidents where vehicles were used, and we’re assuming they were stolen, have been linked to a number of related crimes such as petrol drive-offs and we’ve seen a common thread across the Sunshine Coast and south east Queensland over recent times,“ Supt Johnson said.
The thieves fled the scene in a northerly direction. Police believe the offenders may be responsible for a recent string of robberies at a bottle shop and petrol station in the Pomona region.
Police are calling on anyone who saw two white Isuzu utes in the Cooroy township early on Monday morning to come forward. Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or Noosa Criminal Investigation Branch on 5440 8167.
