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Police car damaged when its driver was ambushed by boy racers
Christchurch police say a mob of 300 boy racers orchestrated an overnight ambush on a lone police officer.
The officer escaped the incident in Wigram on the city's outskirts without injury over Friday night but he fears it's only a matter of time before a life is lost.
A police car bears all the scars of a serious beating after the officer driving it was attacked by the crowd of boy racers.
They abandoned their burnouts to chase their prey.
"Initially bottles were thrown and then I was fired upon by a slug riffle or air rifle. Three pellets struck my drivers side window and about five seconds later the first bottle went through the window," says Sergeant Nigel Armstrong of Christchurch police.
He says he had no choice but to drive through the crowd despite the debris raining down on him and believes if he had stopped, the frenzied mob would not have.
The broken windows, damaged paint job and alcohol splattered through the car just show how aggressive his attackers were.
"It is escalating to a point before someone is seriously injured or killed and that quite possibly is going to be a police officer," says Armstrong.
Christchurch is no stranger to complaints about boy racers like those involved in the latest incident, mainly young men in fast cars causing chaos.
But police say Friday night's antics have changed things up a gear.
"This has gone up a significant level. They are now boxing above their weight...It's not boy racer activity, this was an orchestrated ambush designed at attacking a single police officer," says Malcolm Johnston, Christchurch Area Commander.
Saturday night marks the beginning of a crackdown with extra patrols to stop a repeat of the mobbing.
"This was a senseless act and we are going to come down on it like a ton of bricks," says Johnston.
And Christchurch police say it may be time for legislative changes if the brakes are going to go this kind of behaviour.
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