A Sydney police officer has shared the moment he realised he was covered in blood during a dawn arrest raid.
Senior Constable Jacob Vella was stabbed in the neck with a makeshift spear as he and another officer attempted to arrest Ricky Constantino at his Sadleir home in 2019.
Mr Constantino’s son, Rory, stabbed Constable Vella because he claims at the time he did not know the men were police officers.
In an ongoing trial at Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court, Rory Constantino, 30, pleaded not guilty to intent to resist or prevent the arrest of his father, as well as to the back-up charge of recklessly wounding a police officer and causing him actual bodily harm.
On Tuesday, Constable Vella told the court it took some time for him to realise he had been injured following an altercation with the younger Mr Constantine inside the home.
“I remember looking and seeing my whole hand just covered in blood,” he said.
“I immediately called out to my partner. I remember seeing his face; it was as if he had seen a ghost.”
At the time Constable Vella was just 24 and had been a police officer for a little over three years.
The court heard Constable Vella and his partner Senior Constable Grant Koschel arrived at the property before dawn with an arrest warrant for Ricky Constantino for failing to appear in court to face drugs charges.
The officers were wearing black hooded jumpers and dark jeans when they arrived in an unmarked car at the Constantino residence.
Constable Vella told the court they were also wearing firearms and capsicum spray on their belts as well as police identification lanyards.
He recalled hearing a conversation between Constable Koschel and Rory Constantino through the partially open front door.
Constable Vella said his partner told the occupant, “As I’ve already told you, we’re the police. We’re not going anywhere. You’ve told us your father’s inside. We have to come in one way or another.”
He says Mr Constantino replied with words to the effect of, “I don’t care – youse aren’t f***ing coming in.”
Constable Vella says in order to gain access to the property, he kicked the door, which came off its hinges and fell to the floor inside.
Earlier this week, Constable Koschel gave evidence he was “somewhat” surprised when Constable Vella kicked down the door, but that “these things happen in the heat of the moment”.
According to Constable Vella, he chased Rory Constantino down a hallway in the home, believing him to potentially be the person they were at the property to arrest.
When Mr Constantino reached the end of the hallway, the court heard he grabbed an implement and “lunged” at the pursuing officer.
“They’ve been running away from me and then all of a sudden they’ve done a 180 and come directly at me,” Constable Vella said.
“I remember seeing something coming towards my face.
“I just felt something make contact with around my neck and upper chest area.”
Constable Vella says he was able to deflect the second blow and disarm Mr Constantino, who had, “immediately … lunged again and screamed.”
“The second one, I was a lot more prepared for. I remember grabbing the stick with my left hand and then I started defending myself,” he said.
Constable Vella said he then hit Mr Constantino with his fists until he ended up in a ball on the ground saying “stop, stop”.
It wasn’t until Constable Vella attempted to handcuff Mr Constantino that he says he noticed a large amount of blood coming from a wound somewhere around his neck area and called for assistance from his partner.
“He’s taken me around the shoulder and said we need to get out of here,” Constable Vella said.
As the pair left the property together, Constable Vella said he saw the older Mr Constantino holding a baseball bat and appearing surprised to see him covered in blood.
The trial continues.
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