WA’s top cop defends high-speed chase that’s left elderly man fighting for life

Read the original at The Sydney Morning Herald ↗
Cite

Peppiatt, R. (2026, October 15). WA’s top cop defends high-speed chase that’s left elderly man fighting for life. The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/national/western-australia/wa-s-top-cop-defends-high-speed-chase-that-s-left-elderly-man-fighting-for-life-20261015-p615vq.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

The Sydney Morning Herald · collected 2026-10-15 · by Rebecca Peppiatt

Quick Summary

Western Australia’s police commissioner, Col Blanch, defended a high-speed chase on Monday in Leeming where an unmarked police car crashed into a civilian vehicle, seriously injuring an 80-year-old man. The incident occurred when officers were pursuing a career criminal who was allegedly driving without a license and had stolen a car. Commissioner Blanch placed blame on the driver of the stolen vehicle, asserting that the police officers involved were highly trained and faced difficult decisions in their pursuit.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-15, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

A police pursuit through Perth's southern suburbs ended in a serious crash on October 12, around 11am, near Leeming and Beasley Road. The collision involved an unmarked police car pursuing a stolen vehicle and another civilian car driving from a turning lane. A white sedan was severely damaged with its engine ejected onto the opposite side of South Street, while debris and another smashed black van were scattered nearby.

The crash injured three people: an elderly man in his 80s taken to Royal Perth Hospital in critical condition; and two police officers (a man in his 40s and a woman in her 30s) transported to Fiona Stanley Hospital. The alleged driver of the stolen vehicle, described as a "career criminal" on bail without a license, was later arrested.

Western Australia's top cop, Col Blanch, defended the pursuit, stating that the blame lies with the culprit rather than the police officers who were making split-second decisions and performing constant risk assessments. He expressed sadness over the elderly man's injuries but emphasized his anger towards the driver of the stolen vehicle due to their criminal history and illegal driving status.

Written for “Police Pursuit Ends In Crash” on 2026-10-15, grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it +0.35, but 1 quote(s) could not be found in the article and the other 2 are attributed speech rather than the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 81236: no verified evidence · logged 2026-10-15

Story

📰 Police Pursuit Ends In Crash
Crime & Law · 3 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 9% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Breaking: Police pursuit ends in serious crash in Perth's south same event · 95%
ABC News (AU)
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 22% hedged 2 of 9 📰 publisher trust 72
“Both articles describe the same police pursuit in Perth's Leeming suburb that resulted in a serious crash involving multiple injuries and hospitalizations.”
Elderly man rushed to hospital after police pursuit crash same event · 95%
The Sydney Morning Herald
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 8 📰 publisher trust 61
“Both articles describe the same police pursuit incident in Leeming involving an elderly man who was injured, occurring on Monday around the same time.”
WA news LIVE: Perth man charged after dramatic police take-down on freeway on-ramp different event · 70%
The Sydney Morning Herald
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 20% hedged 1 of 5 📰 publisher trust 61
“The articles describe events involving different incidents with distinct outcomes, locations, and times.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
22
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
9%
2 of 22 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
61/100
The Sydney Morning Herald's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
3
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-15 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

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Who wrote this

Rebecca Peppiatt
10 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
🔮 A Perth police officer has been sentenced to a community-based order for shaking his newborn baby after a court heard he “lost his shit” when the child would not settle in the middle of the night.
2026-10-13 · assertive framing · ‘I lost it’: Sleep-deprived Perth cop sentenced for shaking five-week-old baby
🔮 Gentilli has pleaded not guilty to two charges of dealing with the proceeds of crime and will take the allegations to trial next year.
2026-10-08 · assertive framing · Former Comanchero bikie turned Perth social media influencer sent back to prison
🔮 Gay appeared in Perth Magistrates Court on Friday via audio link from a bedside hearing where she could be heard crying.
2026-09-28 · mixed framing · Mosman Park millionaire’s 88-year-old wife charged with attempted murder
🔮 Earlier this year Sam Curulli, 27, was accused of attempting to gain benefit by fraud, corruption, and stealing between May and December 2025, while helping to run the Mid West council.
2026-09-26 · mixed framing · Former shire deputy continued offending after March arrest, police allege
🔮 The shark that killed a 63-year-old swimmer at Sorrento Beach on Friday will be caught and destroyed, in what Fisheries minister Jackie Jarvis said was “an extraordinary step”.
2026-09-19 · assertive framing · ‘Extraordinary step’: Shark that killed 63-year-old Perth swimmer to be destroyed
🔮 “His offending is very much connected to the instability around his housing,” magistrate Alana Padmanabham said, before adding that she felt she could not penalise the boy and keep him in custody when he was “at the mercy” of the Department of Communities. He will be back before the court on October 30.
2026-09-18 · mixed framing · Court hears teen accused of Perth Zoo crocodile attack moved homes daily in care
🔮 A teenage boy who allegedly killed his mother and seriously injured his 12-year-old sister could elect for a Supreme Court trial before a jury.
2026-09-18 · assertive framing · Perth teen accused of murdering his mum could face Supreme Court jury
Also by Rebecca Peppiatt
‘I lost it’: Sleep-deprived Perth cop sentenced for shaking five-week-old baby
2026-10-13 · The Sydney Morning Herald
Drones, dogs and divers deployed as police search Swan River for missing woman
2026-10-10 · The Sydney Morning Herald
Former Comanchero bikie turned Perth social media influencer sent back to prison
2026-10-08 · The Sydney Morning Herald
Mosman Park millionaire’s 88-year-old wife charged with attempted murder
2026-09-28 · The Sydney Morning Herald
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 10 articles by Rebecca Peppiatt →

Topics

ABC Radio Accent Hyundai Leeming Scotland

Subjects

Blanch PERSON · 3× ABC Radio ORG · 1× Col Blanch PERSON · 1× Hyundai ORG · 1× Leeming GPE · 1× Royal Perth Hospital ORG · 1× Scotland GPE · 1×

Narrative

WA’s top cop has defended a decision by two police officers to pursue a “career criminal” through the streets of Leeming on Monday, after an unmarked police car crashed into a civilian vehicle, leaving an 80-year-old man fighting for his life.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-15
2026-10-15 · The Sydney Morning Herald
WA’s top cop defends high-speed chase that’s left elderly man fighting for life · assertive framing

Claims (22 extracted, 2 hedged)

WA’s top cop has defended a decision by two police officers to pursue a “career criminal” through the streets of Leeming on Monday, after an unmarked police car crashed into a civilian vehicle, leaving an 80-year-old man fighting for his life. asserted
car → defend → life
On Thursday morning police commissioner Col Blanch said the blame for the incident should sit squarely with the person the officers were trying to apprehend, alleging the culprit was on bail at the time of the pursuit. asserted
culprit → say → pursuit
“Our police officers have to make split-second decisions, and they do a constant risk assessment,” he said on ABC Radio. asserted
he → have → Radio
“And we’re not always going to get it right.” asserted
it → go → ?
Blanch said he was “deeply saddened” that an 80-year-old man was seriously injured in the process of a pursuit, but said his blame sits with the person who caused the pursuit. asserted
who → say → pursuit
“He’s got a significant criminal history,” he said. asserted
he → get → history
He doesn’t have a driver’s license [so he] should not be in a car. asserted
he → have → car
“If a community wants to be angry, I tell you where my anger lies about that 80-year-old man lying in hospital, it’s with that person driving that car.” asserted
it → want → car
Blanch said the officers involved were highly trained, before later adding that one of them was responsible for training others in pursuit driving and had been trained in both Scotland and the US “in pursuit tactics”. asserted
one → say → tactics
“[He] is probably one of our best drivers that we have, which shows how dangerous it can be on the road because that’s how this ended,” he said. asserted
he → have → road
“I stand behind my police officers. asserted
I → stand → officers
“They’re going to make split second decisions and this is a terrible, terrible outcome. asserted
this → go → decisions
But the only reason they were doing what they were doing is because that person made the decision to steal a car, allegedly … who had no business driving like that, having total disregard for human life on our roads.” uncertain
who → do → roads
The incident occurred around 11am on South Street when police were allegedly trying to stop a stolen vehicle that was travelling at approximately 150km/h through an intersection. uncertain
that → occur → intersection
When the civilian car drove forward from a turning lane, the police car hit it, leaving the 80-year-old driver with significant injuries. asserted
car → drive → injuries
The accident left a street sign embedded in one of the vehicles, while the force of the collision resulted in the engine of the other vehicle being ejected and ending up on the other side of the road. asserted
engine → leave → road
The police officers, a man in his 40s and a woman in her 30s, were both taken to Fiona Stanley Hospital but suffered no major injuries. asserted
officers → take → injuries
The driver of the Hyundai Accent, a man aged in his 80s, was rushed to Royal Perth Hospital suffering serious injuries. asserted
driver → rush → injuries
He remains in a critical condition. asserted
He → remain → condition
Blanch said a full internal review of what happened was underway and that he had reached out to the family of the victim. asserted
he → say → victim
“I can’t express this enough - my heart goes out to that family because they want answers,” he said. asserted
he → express → answers
“And my job is to get them the answers that they need as to why this happened and how this happened.” asserted
this → get → that
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