You Can Run from the Cops in a Smart Car—If You Just Believe in Yourself
A real-life car chase that’s less Michael Bay and more Judd Apatow.
With the world in crisis, it's easy to feel demotivated and down. What we all need right now is a feel-good story about overcoming obstacles and triumphs of the human spirit...like this guy who decided to run from the cops in a humble Smart Fortwo powered by nothing but three cylinders, less than a hundred horsepower, and sheer force of will.
It also doesn't hurt that the simple visual of this thing being tracked by news helicopters in an L.A.-style police "pursuit" is just damn funny. I mean, is it really a car chase if other motorists are casually and consistently overtaking you? Legit or not, it's quality quarantine entertainment.
According to various news outlets, it all started Wednesday morning when the tenacious Smart driver was involved in a disturbance at a Walmart parking lot in Gilbert, Arizona. Police responded to a "suspicious person in the parking lot...who was screaming and yelling" and "refused to speak to officers," according to AZ Family. The man then fled. And by "fled" we mean "walked away, got into his car and left."
The driver of the Smart car reportedly refused to pull over, ran multiple red lights, and got on I-17 heading west towards Phoenix. In the interest of public safety, the Department of Public Safety then decided to call off the ground pursuit, leaving the driver to think they had gotten away, at least temporarily.
At some point, however, police resumed the chase because once the fleeing Smart reached I-10 and Watson some 30 miles away from Phoenix's city center, the mild goose chase came to an end with a PIT maneuver, leaving the tiny, silver Fortwo stopped on the side of the road facing the wrong direction, surrounded by several police SUVs, and looking to have suffered some body damage. Obviously, the suspect was then taken into custody.
Moral of the story? You go to war with the car you have, not the car you want. Anywho, here's a 41-minute feed of the nail-biting chase in case you've got time to burn.
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