Wiltshire Police are urging any witnesses to an incident in Swindon town centre this afternoon to get in touch.
Shortly before 3pm today, officers were in the Edgeware Road area carrying out enquiries in relation to a scam, in which laptops are offered for sale – when the buyer hands over cash, they are given an empty box, but by the time they realise, the offender has left the scene in a vehicle.
Officers spotted a vehicle suspected to be involved in the scam in the Edgeware Road car park near to the magistrates court. They attempted to stop it, but it was driven at speed out of the car park and straight towards one of our officers, before mounting a pavement and making off.
Fortunately, the officer was not injured and continued with his duties.
The vehicle, a grey Vauxhall Astra, continued to be driven at speed through red lights and a pursuit ensued before it was momentarily lost to sight. Officers located the vehicle, which had collided with a wall in York Street, moments later. All three occupants had decamped.
Searches to locate them are continuing.
We believe a family including a young child were in the area at the time of the incident, and the child had to be pulled away quickly to avoid being hit by the vehicle as it made off from the scene.
We’d urgently ask anyone who may have been a victim of this scam, or anyone who was approached by men attempting to sell computers in the town centre today to get in touch.
We’d also ask anyone who was in the Edgeware Road area at around 3pm today to call us via 101 and quote log number 218 of today. We’d also welcome any dash-cam footage from drivers nearby.
