A POLICEMAN in the North of Ireland is recovering after being pinned to a police car by a lorry in an apparent murder bid.
The on-duty officer was the victim of a hit and run after a lorry was "driven at speed directly at him" while he was investigating the theft of an ATM using a digger, which had occured the previous day.
PSNI believe the theft of the ATM and hit and run incident the following day are linked.
The policeman is recovering from a fractured ankle, injuries to his back and a wound to his head – but his condition is described as stable.
He was pinned between the lorry and a police car on Saturday when he was investigating the theft of an ATM at a petrol station that happened in the early hours of Friday morning.
His injuries were not life-threatening and he was released from hospital in Belfast on Sunday.
Now, the PSNI are treating it as an attempted murder investigation.
At around 3.30am on Friday morning, a digger was used to rip an ATM from the wall of a petrol station on Mullaghduff Road near Newry.
The digger was abandoned on the road and burned out while the culprits made their getaway in another vehicle.
A man in his 20s was arrested the following day in Co. Monaghan – but PSNI continued to seek information on two other suspects who fled the scene.
The injured officer was investigating the theft of the ATM when he was the victim of the hit and run incident.
When a "suspicious lorry transporting a car" was spotted at Cullyhanna in Co. Armagh, the officer approached the vehicle to question the driver.
It appears that the officer was then rammed intentionally.
"From the accounts of those at the scene, this appears to have been a deliberate act and as such we will be treating this incident as the attempted murder of a police officer," said Superintendent Simon Walls.
A low loader vehicle, believed to be the one that crashed into the officer, was found burnt out sometime later.
“We are keen to trace the movements of this lorry yesterday and locate its driver,” Supt Walls added.
“The lorry is described as low loader with a white cab, a yellow bumper, a red low loader body and carrying a white or silver vehicle.”
PSNI continue to investigate and encourage anyone with information to get in touch with them by calling 101.
