A police officer has had his leg crushed between two getaway cars after trying to stop a robbery at a southeast Queensland business.
The officer was responding to reports of a robbery at a Mitre-10 store at Cooroy, in the Sunshine Coast hinterland about 4am on Monday.
When he arrived he caught the thieves in the act and wrestled with one of them, but was struck and pinned against another car by a vehicle driven by one of the others.
Superintendent Darryl Johnson says the Sergeant received non-life-threatening injuries and was rushed to Nambour hospital for treatment.
"He's in pretty good spirits. He's sore, being treated in hospital, and hopefully he'll be released later today," Supt Johnson told reporters in Noosa Heads.
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He said the local officer-in-charge is a well-known local figure who was responding to a call to him personally by a member of the public.
"The actions of the officer were very courageous," Supt Johnson said.
"He was alone, and that's the nature of country policing on occasion is that you attend these incidents by yourself."
Police are now investigating if the theft was linked to a string of break-and-enters across the Sunshine Coast region in recent weeks.
"A number of these incidences where vehicles were used, and we're assuming they were stolen, have been linked to a number of related crimes such as petrol driver-offs, and we've seen a common thread across the Sunshine Coast and southeast Queensland over recent times," Supt Johnson said.
