The shocking moment a man rams a police car with children in his back seat has been captured on camera.
The man led police on a high-speed chase before ramming their car and the doors of a petrol station – all while three children were screaming in the back seat.
Brett Pelling was charged with 23 crimes for his alleged early-morning rampage through Townsville, North Queensland on Monday.
The ordeal was caught on camera and shows officers pointing their gun at the man, trying to get him to stop
When he was finally caught, three children aged 11, five, and two were discovered in the back seat – earning him child endangerment charges.
He was also slapped with three charges of breaching a domestic violence order related to the series of events.
The ordeal was caught on camera and shows officers pointing their gun at the man, trying to get him to stop.
Children can be heard screaming in the back of the car before the man drives into a petrol station where he rams police.
The 36-year-old was allegedly at 2am seen driving on the wrong side of the road down Woolcock Street in Townsville, forcing police to dodge him.
He then sped away up the Bruce Highway when police did a U-turn to pull him over, and evaded them until another motorist saw him an hour later.
The shocking moment a man rams a police car with children in his back seat has been captured on camera
Officers found him parked in front of the police station in Ingham, 90 minutes to the north, before he again sped away despite having a blown tyre.
Pelling allegedly pulled into a petrol station on Townsville Road and drove dangerously around its fuel pumps.
He then tried to ram the officers’ car several times without success before reversing into the petrol station’s doors, police alleged.
The doors were destroyed but two staff members inside were not injured, and he drove straight at the police car again but missed.
After driving back out to the road he allegedly again tried to ram the pursuing police before heading back to the petrol station.
Finally he managed to crash into the passenger side of a police car, but the damage to his vehicle was severe enough that police could apprehend him.
Brett Pelling, 36, led police on a high-speed chase before ramming a their car and the doors of this petrol station in North Queensland – all while three children were in the back seat
Officers had to drag him out of the car to be arrested, after he braced himself inside and refused to come out.
That was when officers found the three children and took them to hospital for observation. None were physically injured in the rampage.
Pelling was denied police bail and remanded in custody to face the Townsville Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
He faces 23 charges including dangerous driving, assaulting police, threatening violence, child endangerment, and breaching a domestic violence order.