Kalgoorlie man arrested after headbutting, punching through ambulance windscreen

Warning: This story contains graphic content.

Western Australia’s northern police chief has defended the actions of officers for failing to immediately respond to reports a man had allegedly attacked an ambulance in Kalgoorlie.

A 25-year-old man has been arrested and charged after going on a rampage on the bonnet of an ambulance that had been called by concerned members of the community, who had seen the man wandering the streets naked.

Vision of the incident in Boulder on Sunday morning showed the man punching through the glass of the ambulance while covered in blood and repeatedly slamming his head into the windshield.

Police arrived at the scene around 11.15am after being called by the crew trapped inside the ambulance.

Officers took 22 minutes to arrive at the scene, despite the police station being located five kilometres down the road, with the initial “code black” call for help being made at 10.37am.

WA Police Commander Rod Wilde has since apologised to St John Ambulance WA for the delay.

“It was a very busy day in the Goldfields, and particularly in Kalgoorlie yesterday,” he told ABC Radio.

“We had the St Barbara’s Parade on in Kalgoorlie at the time this occurred, we had a number of vehicles there and there was a domestic violence event and another high-priority job that the police were attending.

Wilde said officers did as best they could.

“Kalgoorlie is fully staffed. This was not a staffing issue,” he said.

“It was a sudden increase in demand for police resources, and we responded while managing multiple priorities.

“We will always strive to provide timely responses to calls to help from the community … that vision is distressing to watch [and] … the safety of the community, our first responders and the individuals themselves should be everyone’s priority.”

Wilde said police were supporting the man’s family.

A spokesperson from the Ambulance Employees Association of WA said ambulance workers and police were being failed by inadequate regional resourcing.

“A patient transport crew – workers trained and equipped to care for and transport non-emergency patients – found themselves alone and under sustained violent attack because there simply weren’t enough paramedics available to respond,” they said.

“These courageous workers responded because their paramedic colleagues needed urgent backup and there was no one else available. They put themselves in harm’s way knowing they lacked the training, equipment, and support to safely manage what they might face.

“When emergency services cannot back each other up because everyone is stretched beyond breaking point, the entire community is placed at risk.”

In a statement, St John Ambulance WA said the incident was unacceptable and deeply distressing for the three crews who responded to the call-out.

“Our priority is ensuring every support is provided to them, including immediate wellbeing assistance,” it read.

“We are relieved no one was physically injured, but incidents like this leave a lasting emotional impact, and we stand firmly with our people.

“Violence against our crews is violence against the whole community.”

Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti said footage of the incident was horrific to watch.

“I know in particular regional towns, the demand for paramedics is very high, and we continually work with the ambulance service on how we can support additional services,” she said.

The injured man was taken by a different ambulance to Kalgoorlie Health Campus. The ambulance crew involved in the altercation was physically unharmed, but their vehicle had to be towed away.

St John WA said it was investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident and would be working closely with WA Police.

The 25-year-old has since been charged with obscene acts in public, criminal damage or destruction of property and endangering the health, life or safety of a person.

He was refused bail and will appear in the Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court on Monday.

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