One police officer was forced to throw himself from a moving car while another was left with a broken wrist after an incident on the Calder Highway almost two years ago, a court has heard.
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Shari Oliver pleaded guilty in the County Court this week to two counts of conduct endangering persons and two counts of recklessly causing injury in relation the incident on July 6, 2018, as well as summary offences of committing an indictable offence on bail and failing to answer bail.
On that evening, two Bendigo police officers checked on a car parked beside the Calder Highway at Kangaroo Flat.
When an attempt was made to drive the vehicle away, a leading senior constable tried to grab the gear stick to stop the car.
Oliver, who was seated in the passenger seat, yelled at the officer to get out of the car before gouging his left eye with her fingers.
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The officer grabbed her fingers to stop her, but she broke free and began to scratch at his eyes.
Oliver tried to put the car into drive or reverse, while the officer attempted to keep it in park.
During the struggle, the car drifted across the two southbound lanes of the highway and came to rest on the median strip.
At this point, a second police officer - seeing Oliver punching her colleague - used pepper spray to subdue the car's occupants.
The car then lurched forward and hit a light pole before reversing, an open door hitting the second officer and throwing her into a tree.
Her colleague was still in the vehicle when it then moved forward, crossed the highway's southbound lanes and crashed into a tree.
It was reversed back onto the highway, with the officer hanging in the vehicle, grappling for control.
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As it began driving down the highway, the police officer feared for his life and he agreed to get out if the vehicle slowed.
The car did slow down, but accelerated before the officer was able to get out, forcing him to jump.
He landed in the centre of the two lanes and had to roll off the road to avoid being hit by other vehicles.
He and his colleague were admitted to hospital overnight.
He suffered severe back and rib soreness, cuts and abrasions, while the other officer sustained a broken wrist, cuts to the head, and other minor cuts and abrasions.
Oliver was arrested a short distance away.
Victim impact statements submitted to the court detailed the physical and mental effects the incident had had on the officers involved.
Oliver will be sentenced at a later date.
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Natalie Croxon
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
