It’s believed officers drove to Alma Street on Sunday after receiving reports that a Ford Falcon with stolen number plates was parked in the area.

Police found the suspicious Ford in the driveway of an apartment block and approached to talk to the occupants about 2pm.

Suddenly, a male passenger fled from the Ford, while a male driver and female passenger remained inside, allegedly reversing into the police vehicle.

“The (Ford) driver drove forward and (allegedly) reversed into the police car again while trying to get past,” Victoria Police spokesman Leading Senior Constable Adam West said.

The police officers avoided injury.

The driver then fled along Alma Street and headed towards Dunolly at allegedly high speed, before using the Bridgewater-Maldon Road and Wimmera Highway to make his way towards Bendigo. 

The car was dumped in bushland near Sailors Gully Road, just out of the boundaries of Eaglehawk North Primary School in Bendigo.

A crime scene was established and detectives thoroughly examined the car.

The two occupants then allegedly fled through bushland before the man was arrested near Tracey Court.

The woman was also arrested a short time later as the canine unit was arriving in Bendigo.

It comes just weeks after an unrelated incident where a teenager allegedly rammed a police vehicle in the driveway of a Redan house in Ballarat.

The issue of police rammings has come increasingly under the spotlight this year and is shaping up to be a pivotal issue during next year’s state election.

The powerful Police Association of Victoria, led by former Trentham officer Wayne Gatt, has called for a specific new offence to target criminals who purposely ram police vehicles.