A mother and two children have been caught up in a terrifying carjacking at a service station in Perth’s south.
The woman was filling her car with petrol on Safety Bay Rd in Shoalwater about 9pm on Tuesday when a stranger jumped into her car and started the engine, police said.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Mum and children caught up in carjacking.
One child escaped from the front passenger seat as the mother jumped into the back to free the second child from their car seat.
But she could not get them out quickly enough and “the male drove away from the scene with the female and child still inside” the car, police said.
Security vision shared by authorities showed a rear door still open as the Holden Commodore was driven away.
“He stopped a short distance away where the female managed to exit the vehicle with the child. The female and both children were unharmed,” WA Police said.
The Commodore was spotted an hour later on Kalamunda Rd in South Guildford, 60km away.
Authorities allege the driver disregarded their emergency lights and sirens and instead took off.
Police Air Wing kept tabs from the sky as the car travelled through South Guildford, Bassendean and Lockridge.
It finally stopped when it smashed into the rear of a Toyota Camry sedan at the intersection of Roe Hwy and Toodyay Rd in Middle Swan.
Police allege the driver ran off and was later found hiding in the roof space of a home on Giro Pl in Middle Swan.
A 42-year-old Henley Brook man was charged with reckless driving to escape pursuit by police, failing to stop, no authority to drive, stealing a motor vehicle, reckless driving and failing to stop after an incident occasioning bodily harm.
He fronted Midland Magistrates Court on Wednesday and will next appear on October 2.