Police officer stood down as more footage emerges of incident in Perth suburb on Sunday afternoon

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A West Australian senior sergeant has been stood down after an incident in which a teenager was run down by a police vehicle in the Perth suburb of Thornlie on Sunday afternoon.

The officer was stood aside following the release of new footage showing the car striking 18-year-old William Farmer, and knocking him to the ground.

Earlier footage recorded by a witness in a nearby car also shows the police car veering to the opposite side of the road and striking the man.

Earlier today the Farmer family’s lawyer told Guardian Australia Farmer had sustained serious injuries.



“We see no reason why he had to be apprehended in that manner,” he said. “It looks, from the evidence I’ve seen, like a violent assault.”

The lawyer had written to the WA police minister, Michelle Roberts, who is also the minister for road safety, to ask “when you expect a decision to be made about whether charges will be laid?” against the officer in question.

WA police said the man was “being sought for questioning over a caller complaint of suspicious activity in the area”. “The man was arrested a short time later on Wilfred Road after colliding with a police vehicle involved in the search,” they said.

Farmer was taken to Fiona Stanley hospital for treatment.

Guardian Australia has contacted Western Australia police for comment.