A car chase in the narrow back streets of Gżira yesterday ended with a 71-year-old woman being hospitalised with a broken leg after she was run over.

The driver reversed at high speed, missing the officers by a whisker but hitting their car

The woman was walking back home from the grocery store when a black BMW hit her while reversing at high speed.

Police sources said the car was being driven by 19-year-old Sean Zammit, who had allegedly been trying to escape arrest after being asked to pull over by two officers.

The two policemen, from the Mobile Squad, just managed to avoid the reversing car themselves but they too had to be treated for slight injuries which they are alleged to have sustained in a struggle to arrest the driver.

The incident took place at around midday. Members of the Mobile Squad in a patrol car signalled to Mr Zammit to pull over because they suspected he did not have a driving licence. There were also two women in the car, one of them heavily pregnant.

Instead of stopping, however, the youngster from Birkirkara sped off and a chase through several streets in Gżira ensued, according to the police sources.

After driving through several stop signs with no one getting in his way, he turned wrong way into a road, Sir William Reid, which was blocked by a crane.

The police drove up behind the BMW, got out of their car and approached the driver.

But rather than giving himself up, he reversed at high speed, missing the officers by a whisker but hitting their car, the sources said.

It was at this point that he allegedly ran over the woman, lost control of the vehicle, hit a parked Toyota pick-up and smashed into a blue Maruti 800, lifting it a few inches off the ground.

The officers pounced on him but are said to have had a hard time arresting him. Witnesses said they saw the man throwing punches. The two women inside the BMW claimed the officers hit the driver repeatedly as he lay on the ground.

The pregnant woman, who was wearing a white hoodie, was complaining of birth pangs but refused to be taken to hospital for a check-up even after police women at the scene tried to persuade her.

When she was questioned by the police, she said the BMW was hers and claimed she had been driving. Her friend, however, would not corroborate the story. She replied: “Ask her. It’s her car,” when asked the same question.

The police searched the car thoroughly, going through a black garbage bag found in the boot.

The bag contained a collection of dirty clothes, women’s underwear and condoms. The women were not held for questioning.

The police said the driver was taken into custody and is expected to be arraigned in the coming days.