Car thief who was guilty of manslaughter about a police officer

A car thief that was high on meth when he ran over a police officer after a chase through the streets of Perth was found guilty of killing him.

Reagan Chown was behind the wheel of a stolen holding cruze when it turned around, and was from the prison Anthony Woods between the door and the body of the car after a traffic stop in June 2023.

The cruze was chased by the police and reached speeds of more than 80 kilometers per hour in a zone of 40 km / h, before he came to a halt in Acot in a dead end.

Constable Woods tried to arrest Chown, but after he had plagued him, Constable Woods was dragged under the vehicle while it waved back and hit bollards.

He died three days later in the hospital.

There were a longing for breath in the public gallery when the verdict was read, with various people in tears.

Commissioner Col Blanch was one of the court for the judgment, together with a number of police officers.

Chown, who stood in front of the verdict, did not respond.

Get a brave officer greeted

Constable Woods, 28, was described by police commissioner Col Blanch as a “brave and dedicated” officer.

There was an outpouring of grief in the aftermath of his death, the 88th WA police officer to die in conscription.

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He only recently completed his probationary period.

Taxing with doubt

Chown was confronted with an indictment for murder, but it was relegated to manslaughter days before the trial would start.

He had claimed that he lost control of his arms and legs, and the vehicle after he had been tested.

CCTV images of a nearby house were played in court, in which a voice could be heard to say: “Stay where you are” twice, just before Taser’s squat.

Chown claimed that he never heard those words – and during the trial admitted to lying against the police about his meth use, and said that “narcotic drugs and drug abuse were damaging his judgment”.

In his final declarations, Justin Whalley’s public prosecutor said that the jury was chowned criminal because the cruze “reversed backwards under power”.

He referred to Chown as a “drugs affected car thief” whose version of events changed between 2023 and when he took his process.

Mr. Whalley told the jury that Chown initially said that the “car was stationary”, and in neutral, and he had his foot on the brake before he was beaten.

But images from the scene showed that the car was already declining when it was beaten.

In the stands last week, Chown said that he might have accidentally stabbed it in reverse instead of park, and possibly moved his foot to the accelerator.

A medical expert also told the court that a taser would not influence the whole body, as Chown had suggested that it happened to him.

The jury lasted less than three hours to be guilty of manslaughter.

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