Running away from the cops may seem like the best option when adrenaline and fear are surging through your body, but at the end of the day, it not only doesn’t solve anything, but it will surely make things worse.
Take the case of Chad Harrison, for example, who went from simply driving a truck while disqualified to failing to stop for police, and crashing into a total of eight vehicles, including a literally brand new BMW X5 patrol car with just 400 miles (644 kilometers) on the odometer!
It all happened near the town of Stourbridge in the West Midlands, England, this past April when Police Constables Dal Nijjar and Gareth Phillips were suspicious of Harrison’s driving behavior behind the wheel of the recovery truck.
In the dash-cam footage from the X5 patrol car that was released this week, we see the police following the 27-year old man in the truck saying that they hope their maiden trip with the BMW doesn’t end with a repair garage involved… Harrison had different plans, though, and when he stopped for the cops, he didn’t do it to surrender, but to rear end the X5 twice and then take off, smashing into seven more vehicles in the process before reaching a gate, at which point he ran on foot to hide in the bushes.
Despite the hit, the officers were able to follow him in the BMW and call for backup, including a police chopper, essentially ending the chase. Last Tuesday, Harrison was jailed for 19 months and handed a seven-year driving ban.
“The public need protecting from people who drive in this manner and put other road users in danger; he’s rightly been jailed and should he be tempted to take to the roads at any stage over the next seven years he’s likely to find himself back behind bar,” said West Midlands Police Acting Sergeant Robert Leaver.
“The BMW patrol car had only been with the force for a matter of days before the incident – we had some explaining to do when it was taken into our fleet mechanics for extensive repairs so early in its police service!” Leaver added.
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