IPOH, June 13 — A nine-year-old girl was thrown from a lorry when the police pursued her father who was behind the wheel and trying to avoid an Ops Selamat 15 roadblock on Jalan Sultan Nazrin Shah yesterday.

The drama unfolded around 4.30pm when the 37-year-old made a sudden U-turn to evade officers from the Ipoh district Traffic Enforcement and Investigation Department.

"Two officers on duty gave chase, ordering him to stop (his Daihatsu lorry), but he refused and continued to drive dangerously.

"During the chase, a child fell (terjatuh) (sic) from the lorry. The driver then stopped and ran into a restaurant in Taman Soon Choon,” said Ipoh district police chief, ACP Mohd Ali Tamby, in a statement today.

While scuffling with the police, the lorry driver tried to grab a gun from the officers, said Mohd Ali, adding that the man’s arrest with the help of onlookers was videoed and made viral by the public.

He said the suspect from Tanjung Tualang has a record of six prior violations, including for car theft and drugs, with an arrest warrant hanging over his head for a traffic crime.

While the child suffered only cuts and was sent home to Gopeng by police officers, the suspect will be investigated under several sections of the Road Transport Act 1987 and Section 186 of the Penal Code. — Bernama