A police officer told today how he feared he was going to die and “said goodbye to his children” when he was injured in a hit-and-run.
Pc Michael Straker, 28, was part of a Violence Suppression Unit tackling knife and drug crime in east London when he tried to speak to the driver of a blue Toyota Prius. But he said the driver “deliberately” sped up and hit him, flinging him on to the bonnet and sending him sprawling to the ground 25 feet away.
The car then drove off at speed, leaving the officer injured and fearing he would be “killed in the line of duty”.
Pc Straker, who is married with four children, said the incident happened in Barrington Road, East Ham, at 9.45pm on August 20. He told the Standard: “We tried to stop the car because it sped past us and it completely reeked of cannabis.
“I got out to speak to the driver and seconds later the car hit me. He wasn’t slowing down — he was speeding up. I remember saying goodbye to my kids.”
He added: “Very quickly I pulled myself together and pushed my body off the car. I knew if my legs went on the ground, I would be dragged under.
“I really thought I was going to end up as someone on the news, ‘Police officer killed in the line of duty’.”
He was taken to Newham General Hospital for bruising to the right side of his body and severe pain in his pelvis. He was discharged and is back at work.
Detectives arrested and released a 62-year-old man over the incident, which was captured on a local resident’s CCTV camera.
Pc Straker said: “Up and down the country, police officers leave their loved ones not knowing what the day may bring. They do that to protect the communities where they live. If they didn’t, society would be worse.”
Ken Marsh, chairman of the Met’s Police Federation, said officers “are not society’s punchbags”.
He added: “Yet again our brave colleagues in London have come under attack. My colleagues are human beings as well. They should be going home to their families at the end of their shifts and not to hospital.”
