BY: Fadhal A. Ghani and Lee Shi-Ian

PETALING JAYA, MALAYSIA: A police ambush on Wednesday night turned into a Hollywood action movie scene after a car thief stole a patrol car and rammed into 30 vehicles while trying to flee from the police during a three-hour pursuit.

The trail of destruction ended when the man, who has yet to be identified, lost control of the patrol car in Jalan Sungai Buloh.

He managed to get out of the patrol car before it exploded but was shot dead when he tried to attack police officers with a sickle.

The drama started about 7pm on Wednesday after the man and his accomplice, travelling in a white BMW, were ambushed by police in Serdang.

They were believed to have been getting ready to transport a Proton Perdana, which was reported stolen earlier in the day, to a different location when they were surrounded by policemen.
The men fled the scene in their BMW with police in hot pursuit and the vehicle was finally cornered at the Universiti Putra Malaysia toll plaza.

They got out of the car and tried to flee on foot. In the ensuing chase, one of the men escaped into the nearby jungle.

His accomplice, however, got into a police patrol car and sped off with policemen shooting at him. It is believed that one of the bullets hit the right rear tyre of the patrol car and punctured it.

Despite this, the suspect sped away, leaving sparks from the flat tyre in his wake.

At this point, four other police patrol cars joined in the chase.

As he tried to shake off the police, the suspect rammed into 30 cars as he sped from the toll plaza and past Jalan Parliament, Selayang, Kepong, the Middle Ring Road II before losing control of the vehicle in Jalan Sungai Buloh.

The car skidded into a drain and exploded. The suspect, however, had managed to get out of the vehicle in the nick of time.

Armed with a sickle, he charged at the police officers despite repeated warnings to surrender. The police then shot the man several times.

He died on the spot and his body was sent to the University Malaya Medical Centre morgue. He had no identification documents on him.

Police discovered a Taser gun and three badminton rackets inside the suspects' BMW. It is learnt that the car, which is registered to a Shah Alam resident, had not been reported stolen.

Acting state police CID chief Assistant Commissioner Omar Mammah said police were looking for the second suspect.