Robber is 'suing police for injuries' sustained while fleeing officers

Prolific robber, 24, who suffered a broken leg and police dog bite after being deliberately knocked off a stolen motorbike as he tried to flee is ‘suing police for his injuries’

• Sonnie Stow, 24, needed stitches, muscle reconstruction and a skin graft
• Humberside Police has not yet received a complaint or a legal claim from Stow

A prolific robber is allegedly suing police after he suffered a broken leg and dog bite when officers deliberately knocked him off a stolen motorbike as he tried to flee.

Sonnie Stow, 24, and his accomplice, Dawid Kajzer, were riding around Orchard Park on a Benelli 125cc machine that had been stolen from a car park in Hull, East Yorkshire when he was tackled by two police dogs.

The wannabe rapper suffered injuries that included a ‘significant bite’ to his abdomen and others to his upper arms and legs.

He needed stitches, suffered an open wound that needed regular dressing, and would need muscle reconstruction and a skin graft, the court heard.

Stow admitted attempted robbery and aggravated vehicle taking on June 5. He also admitted driving while disqualified. Kajzer, 18, admitted a separate offence of burglary on April 14.

Sonnie Stow, 24, (pictured) is allegedly suing Humberside Police after he suffered a broken leg and dog bite when officers deliberately knocked him off a stolen motorbike as he tried to flee

Stow and Kajzer stole the motorcycle from a multi-story car park near the Bonus Arena in Hull last month, Hull Crown Court heard.

Stow was later seen riding it near Burger King at Willerby Hill business park, with Kajzer as the pillion passenger. Three other youths on bikes were also there.

Kajzer then sat on another bike owned by a customer who came out of the restaurant to tell him to get off.

Stow, on the other bike, blocked the man’s path and threatened him. As Kajzer climbed off the bike, it fell on top of the owner, who suffered a ‘nasty’ leg fracture which would need surgery.

The man later said that the incident had left him anxious and scared to take his bike out. It was his only means of transport to get to and from work and the injury that he received meant that he could not work. 

The pair then made off on the Benelli, speeding along a footpath and veering onto the wrong side of the road.

They were followed by Humberside Police onto the city’s Orchard Park estate where Stow continued to evade the police by riding on a footpath and over a grassed area. 

He rode the wrong way on main roads but was confronted in Hall Road, where he tried to get past the police blocking his path.

The police tactically knocked into the motorcycle, bringing it to a stop. Stow was brought to the ground by a police dog and Kajzer was arrested at the scene after trying to resist but being unable to slip away.

In a separate earlier incident, Kajzer was part of a ‘ram-raid’ burglary involving six people in a car and two on a scooter, at Bargain Booze in Cottingham in the early hours. All the raiders were wearing balaclavas.

A vehicle rammed the security shutters and windows and a recently filled cigarette cabinet was forced open. A crowbar was used and repeated trips backwards and forwards to the vehicle were made during four minutes.

‘Stock ended up all over the floor,’ Rachel Scott, prosecuting, said. The estimated value of the stolen items was about £15,000 and the damage bill was £20,000. The store was closed for nine or 10 weeks, with a loss of £10,000 to £15,000. 

It was the only place in the area where people could pay for gas and electricity and a manager had said that, if it had been an independent shop, it was unlikely that it would have reopened, said Miss Scott. Blood found on the floor was traced to Kajzer.

Stow had convictions for 51 previous offences, including robbery in June 2016 and burglaries in 2017. He had been jailed in July 2019 for three years and nine months for two offences each of dangerous driving and driving while disqualified.

He had been jailed for one year in September last year for affray and possessing a blade.

Kajzer had convictions for 15 previous offences, including five domestic burglary offences in 2020 as well as taking a vehicle without consent and going equipped for theft. He had been locked up in April last year for two-and-a-half years for burglary and taking a vehicle without consent.

Stow his accomplice, Dawid Kajzer, (pictured) stole the motorcycle from a multi-story car park near the Bonus Arena in Hull last month, the court heard. Stow was tackled by two police dogs and suffered injuries that included a ‘significant bite’ to his abdomen and others to his upper arms and legs. He required stitches and would need muscle reconstruction and a skin graft

Julia Baggs, mitigating, said that it was a deeply unpleasant attempted robbery and Stow accepted his part in it. 

‘He is very sorry for the injury that was caused,’ said Miss Baggs. ‘It was not a planned incident.’

Miss Baggs claims Stow understood that it was his behaviour that led to the police action, adding: ‘He accepts that it was an appalling piece of driving. He could have seriously hurt someone.

‘He recognises that he has a terrible record for a young man of his tender years.’ 

Cathy Kioko-Gilligan, representing Kajzer, said that he had been on a curfew as part of his licence conditions after being released from his earlier custodial sentence but, because police turned up ‘at all times of the day and night’, this had a serious effect on his family and his mother asked him to leave. He became homeless.

‘He turned back to his old ways,’ said Miss Kioko-Gilligan. ‘He had no money, no accommodation and no support. That’s no excuse for his behaviour. He thinks he has seen the light.

‘He wants to turn a corner. He is no stranger to the courts. He now acknowledges that his behaviour will just see him in that revolving door of being released and returning to the courts and serving ever longer sentences, something he wants to avoid.

‘He is a bright lad and wants to return to education. He wants to make a good life for himself and put all this offending behind him.’

Recorder Jason Pitter KC said of the attempted robbery: ‘There was serious physical harm caused in this case.’ He said of the shop burglary involving Kajzer that it was an ‘orchestrated and frenzied’ raid.

Stow was jailed for four-and-a-half years and was banned from driving for three years and three months.

Kajzer was sent to a young offenders’ institution for six years and was banned from driving for four years.

Solicitors were said to involved in taking action against the police. However, Humbleside told MailOnline today that the force has not yet received a complaint or a legal claim from Stow in relation to the incident.

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