Graffiti vandals 5m plunge

KATE KYRIACOU, POLICE REPORTER

October 25, 2008 09:00am

A FOOLISH graffiti vandal had to be rescued after he plunged off a 5m cliff while trying to outrun police in Port Noarlunga this morning.

A police patrol spotted a group of mostly youths vandalising the jetty shortly before 5am after receiving a tip-off from a member of the public.

The vandals took off and police gave chase before one - a 25-year-old Moana man - misjudged the height of an embankment and crashed to the bottom.

The pursuing police officers peered over the edge but it was too dark to see whether the man was below.

"Unable to see the 5m embankment in the darkness, police were concerned that the man may have injured himself," a police spokesman said.

"A police officer climbed down the embankment, locating the youth semi-conscious at the base."

MFS and SES personnel were called in to help rescue the graffiti vandal from the bottom of the cliff.

An emergency services spokeswoman said about five fire fighters and five SES volunteers helped carry the man up the embankment to a waiting ambulance.

"Apparently he landed on a gentle slope," she said.

"So even though it was part of a cliff, they were able to carry him up easily."

The man was taken to the Flinders Medical Centre with a possible broken hip or pelvis.

He was charged with property damage and his vehicle was seized under the hoon legislation.