A woman was in hospital last night after her car was involved in a dramatic crash with a stolen police car in the Highlands.
The impact between the two vehicles left a trail of destruction – with the road strewn with debris from the wrecked vehicles and the contents of the police 4×4.
There was even an officer’s cap with tyre tread marks clearly visible across the top of it lying on the carriageway.
Police responded to reports of a man acting suspiciously in the Gorstan area, near Garve in Ross-shire, at around 1.30pm yesterday.
But it is understood that when they tried to arrest him, he attacked and injured one officer and made off in their Mitsubishi Outlander.
About 30 minutes later, the 4×4 was involved in a collision with a people carrier on the A832 Garve-Achnasheen road at Achanalt – about eight miles west of Gorstan.
The woman driving the Hyundai Santa Fe people carrier was trapped in her vehicle, which landed upside down in a ditch.
She escaped serious injury.
The 4×4 came to rest on its wheels on grass on the opposite side of the road. It had extensive frontal damage and both its front wheels were torn off.
Among the debris left on the road was an assortment of police equipment, including uniform items and road accident signs.
It is believed that the two cars were both travelling west in the same direction and the man driving the police vehicle had attempted to overtake the people carrier.
Firefighters from Dingwall and Kinlochewe used cutting gear and spreaders to free the driver of the Hyundai from the wreckage if her vehicle. She was taken to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.
It is understood the man driving the police 4×4 tried to flee the scene on foot but was caught by officers called to the accident.
An Achanalt resident, who lives near the scene of the spectacular crash, arrived home not long after the collision.
He said: “The woman was still in her car when I got here. The fire brigade had to cut her out of the car but they’re saying that she is not too bad, amazingly.
“I thought when I saw the cars that someone was probably going to be dead so they’re both very lucky.
“It’s a bad bit of road, I’ve seen a few accidents here but nothing quite like this.”
An ambulance spokeswoman said that the woman had minor injuries.
She also confirmed that an ambulance crew took a man, understood to be the injured police officer, to the same hospital from Gorstan, although she refused to reveal how badly injured he was.
Last night, a police spokesman said: “At about 1.28pm this afternoon, Police Scotland received a report of a man acting in a suspicious manner in the Gorstan area.
“Police attended and an officer was allegedly assaulted while attempting to arrest a 30-year-old man, who then made off in a car.
“This vehicle was subsequently involved in a collision with another car in the Achanalt area at 2.09pm. A 30-year-old man has been arrested and a report will be sent to the procurator fiscal.”
He added that anyone with information or who witnessed any of the incidents should contact officers on 101.
The A832 was closed and motorists faced a lengthy diversion via Loch Ness and the A82 to avoid the accident scene.