Arkansas State Police caused a suspect to roll off of the road and into a ditch during a recent chase. The department certainly isn’t new to the practice, but there’s one interesting wrinkle here. The driver of the car didn’t appear to be fleeing and this isn’t the first time ASP has engaged such a driver.
The short video showing the engagement doesn’t come along with notes about the interaction. What is clear is that the subject of the chase is a Kia Niro. Officers call out the speed of the vehicle (75) as they approach. The Kia driver puts on a turn signal, pulls into lane two, and begins applying the brakes. That’s when the officer comes up beside the car and sends it into the ditch.
More: Arkansas Police Flipped Pregnant Woman’s Car Because She Didn’t Pull Over Fast Enough
The ensuing video shows the driver arrested at gunpoint and two other officers approaching the car with rifles. It’s unclear how long the chase had been going on or if the driver was about to pull over when the pit maneuver happened. What is clear though is that officers increased the risk to both themselves and the driver of the Kia when they initiated the pit. At highway speeds, just about anything could happen.
This isn’t the first time that Arkansas State Police have ‘pitted’ a person who didn’t appear to be running. Back in 2021, they did the same thing to another driver at under 40 mph. The car and its pregnant driver flipped over. The incident evidently led to changes in the way that the ASP interacts with drivers but this new video calls that into question.
Earlier this year, the ASP used the same tactic on a Mazda SUV with its flashers on that wouldn’t pull over. In that case, the driver was transporting her own mother, who herself was having a medical emergency, to the hospital. They also wrecked a white Cadillac on another occasion only to then realize it was the wrong car. In the case of this latest incident, it’s clear that the driver was still going highway speeds. That only heightens the potential danger both to the suspect and the officers.