People run from the police every day, but it’s rare to see someone lead officers on a chase that looks like it’s straight out of Grand Theft Auto. That’s exactly what happened in this clip from south Little Rock though and it ends with a PIT maneuver and a Dodge Charger hitting a building. The videos both show skillful but potentially reckless driving on the part of the police.
The video showing the beginning of the chase actually starts no more than 5 minutes from my front door in North Little Rock, Arkansas as police try to pull over a black Dodge Charger. As they do the driver guns it, runs through a red light, and hops onto I40 westbound. Officer James Bryant of the NLR PD gives chase in his Chevrolet Tahoe and has to pass multiple vehicles on the right shoulder to keep up.
At least twice in the first 30 seconds of the chase it appears as though he’s nearly part of an accident due to his speed and location on the road. He continues to swerve through rush hour traffic at triple-digit speeds in an attempt to catch the Charger. This sort of aggressive pursuit continues even after the Dodge leaves the highway and gets back on normal streets.
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In fact, it doesn’t stop when the chase leads into residential neighborhoods. The chase passes by numerous pedestrians standing on the side of the street and other vehicles trying to park in their driveways. Finally, near Asher Blvd. in Little Rock, the driver of the Charger makes a strange left turn into a parking lot and Officer Bryant rams the rear quarter panel of the sedan.
The driver fails to slow the car in time and hits a building. Four individuals pop out and run. Two are caught almost immediately. The driver and one other suspect appear to get away. A second video from an Arkansas State Police car shows some of the chase from behind the lead vehicle. It’s clear that the authorities prioritized capturing the driver over so many potential concerns in this chase. If they didn’t catch them, as the video seems to indicate, that sure feels like a lot of wasted effort.
There is no question that the risk to other road users was dramatically increased during this pursuit and was high too for those living in the residential neighborhoods where the police actively drove through at high speed. None of that is to mention the building that was damaged as a result of the chase.