A family of four escaped death by a whisker this Saturday (yesterday) morning, when some police officers allegedly from Highlands police station threw a spike at their Toyota Corolla along Churchill Drive near the University of Zimbabwe.

According to eyewitnesses, the law enforcement agents threw a spike at a Toyota Corolla which was travelling towards Belgravia shopping centre prompting the driver to lose control of the vehicle.

The car rammed into the security wall of the University of Zimbabwe before uprooting trees and landed on its wheels.

Onlookers rushed to assist the four people who were trapped in the car.

Some people who witnessed the accident expressed concern with the behaviour of the police officers querying why they were not standing in a visible place.

The police officers who are allegedly from Highlands police used an unmarked car which was later deflated by angry passersby.

Law enforcement agents from Avondale police station attended to the scene of the accident leaving many people with reservations as to the authenticity of the police officers who threw the spike.

Contacted for comment, the Zimbabwe Republic Police national spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba confirmed the incident saying the injured had been taken to hospital and she could not give more information as the matter is now under investigation.

The Ministry of Home Affairs is on record condemning the throwing of spikes at a moving vehicle.

Spikes should only be used in cases of extreme criminality and in such instances the spikes should be used as part of a barricade, not thrown. state media