Dramatic footage shows thugs hurling quad bike at cops during high speed Derbyshire chase

Officers were forced to swerve around the off-road vehicle when the suspected thieves dumped it as they fled in Grindleford, at 5.50pm on Friday.

The yobs also launched planks of woods and a lump hammer, which smashed the windscreen of the police vehicle during the lengthy pursuit.

Derbyshire Police said officers thought they were going to die when the heavy hammer struck the windscreen as they gave chase along narrow country roads.

One cop suffered minor injuries as a result of scratches from glass fragments before the van was later found abandoned in Sheffield.

Derbyshire Roads Policing Unit shared the shocking footage on social media and urged any witnesses or those with information to get in touch.

It shows the quad bike being thrown off the back of the white van, which carries on travelling for several metres verging across the road before overturning into a bush.

The force wrote: "Whilst here in Derbyshire we aren't experiencing the level of violence and disorder as some of our colleagues, we are still on the front line battling against those who seek to cause harm to the rest of us.

"As an example of what we are up against, here is a short video of a lengthy pursuit which started in Grindleford.

"The van had been spotted involved in the theft of a quad bike earlier in the day at Brassington.

"As we got behind it, the thieves desperation to get away increased to the point where their selfishness seemed to know no bounds.

The first tactic was to chuck the stolen quad bike out the back of the van without a care for anyone else never mind us.

"That didn't deter us so planks of wood were next, followed by a lump hammer which smashed our windscreen.

"Our officer luckily suffered only minor injuries but he thought the hammer was going to come through the windscreen and kill him.

"The van was later found abandoned in Sheffield and recovered for forensic exam.”

Any information, call on 101 - Inc 918 of 12/06/20.