Scarborough chase: Toyota Prado ends up on beach after police pursuit which started in East Perth

Witnesses have described the moment a four-wheel-drive fleeing police went “flying down” the stairs at the Scarborough foreshore before police tackled the driver to the sand after the car became bogged.

The bizarre scene unfolded in front of hundreds of shocked beachgoers on Thursday afternoon.

Police say officers started pursuing the white Toyota Prado station sedan after it failed to stop when they activated their lights and sirens in East Perth about 11am.

The car then made its way through the city to Scarborough, driving on the footpath with police cars in tow and sirens blaring.

Scarborough resident John Bindley said the Prado was driving erratically along The Esplanade when it veered onto the walkway before “flying down” two flights of stairs towards the Scarborough Amphitheatre.

“He was going through median strips and traffic lights and going up curbs and there were lots of loud noises . . . and then I saw all of these cop cars and I thought, what’s going on?’” he told The West.

“Five minutes later, I saw the car flying down the stairs and I ran down to the beach to film it.”

Mr Bindley said the car — which was being chased by dozens of police cars — continued to drive on the footpath towards the Scarborough Beach Pool.

It then turned onto a path, which led towards the beach, before getting bogged in the sand.

Once the car was bogged, Mr Bindley said the driver got out of the car and tried bolting away from cops before he was tackled to the ground.

Iris Stelzer, who is visiting from Germany with her young daughter, Amely, witnessed the ordeal and said at least two of the car’s tyres had burst driving down the stairs.

“He was totally driving on the metal (rims), his wheels were in a diagonal direction,” she said.

Ms Stelzer said she saw the man wade into the water before running away on the sand.

“We were totally shocked ... so we ran to see what was happening on the sand and the guy jumped out of the car onto the beach and he tried to run, but luckily the police were faster,” she said.

“I thought he tried to swim away but he came out and there were already like six or seven police behind him.”

Social media lit up with footage of the incident and the arrest.

One video showed a the driver wearing a hooded jumper over his head being led by a group of police from the shore to a police car.

“POV (point of view) you cause a 10 car police chase that ended in you driving onto the beach, blowing car tyres and attempting to escape into the sea all while outrunning hundreds of people on a random Thursday morning,” one social media user remarked.

A man is in custody helping police “with their inquiries”. No charges have been laid.