Greater Manchester Police are appealing for help from the public to identify a suspect after a video was released of a van ramming into a police vehicle in Salford.

The attack occurred at 3:15am on Tuesday September 5, however nobody has since come forward, leading to a further plea for witnesses.

GMP officers were out on patrol in Salford when they spotted a white transit van driving with fake registration plates. The patrol car requested that the van pull over, with the driver instead choosing to speed away. The van then proceeded to slam on the breaks on a number of occasions in attempt to force the patrol car to crash.

Damaged Police vehicle
Unmarked Police patrol car following the attack

After several failed attempts, the driver then decided to turn the van around, crashing head on to the patrol car before speeding off again. The two officers in the vehicle were both hospitalised as a result.

Since the event, a 21 year-old woman, who is believed to have been the passenger in the van, has been arrested on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle. Police are still searching for the driver of the van however.

Sergeant Danny Kabal of GMP’s Specialist Operations Team said:

“The driver of the white Transit van intended on doing some serious damage and didn’t care if he was putting innocent lives at risk.

“The van was used as a weapon against police officers, who are only there to keep the streets of Greater Manchester safe”

“Thankfully, the officers involved will recover from their injuries, and no members of the public were caught up in the incident but we could have been dealing with an entirely different situation.

“We have arrested a woman but we are still searching for the man who was the driver of the vehicle.

CCTV image of the suspected offender

“We are appealing for anyone who may have any information about who this man is, to get in touch with us.

“Anyone who thinks it is okay to use a van as a weapon against anyone needs removing from the streets and bringing to justice and we won’t stop until we find this man.”

Police have alsop released a CCTV image of the man they wish to speak to in relation to the incident.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact police on 0161 856 5351, alternatively call 101 quoting the reference number 176 of 5/9/17 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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