Police search for man who assaulted officer and crashed into West Hampstead pub

A police helicopter was scrambled and the area sealed off as an urgent manhunt was carried out in the early hours on Wednesday, February 11.

The incident came after two plain-clothes police officers became suspicious of a man sitting in a Mini in Netherwood Street, NW6, at about 1.30am.

After one of the officers “knocked on the window displaying his warrant card for the driver to see”, the driver was said to have driven off at high speed.

The vehicle was pursued in an unmarked police car along Sherriff Road until the driver stopped and reversed at speed towards the police car.

The driver then got out of the car and as an officer approached him explaining they were police and they wanted to speak to him, the driver ran back to the car.

Further up the road the driver stopped and reversed again. The driver was said to have exited the vehicle and begun shouting at the officers.

As he got back into the car, one of the officers tried to get him out but was assaulted. The man then drove off, dragging the officer along the road for a few feet.

The officers continued their pursuit and less than a minute after losing sight of the vehicle it was found crashed against a lamppost in nearby Inglewood Road.

The Alice House pub in West End Lane confirmed it had found a significant proportion of its outdoor decking destroyed – damage thought to have been caused by the driver. Luckily, the pub was shut at the time and nobody was hurt.

A spokesman for the police said: “Passers-by told the officers that the driver had fled up West End Lane and into an alley way that runs into a service road behind the shops on West End Lane.

“The area was sealed off and the Air Support Unit and a dog unit were called in to aid with the search.

“Unfortunately, the man was not found. Enquiries continue.”

If you have any information on the incident, contact police on 101 or anonymously at Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.