The chase began when police spotted this Toyota going 16 mph over the speed limit and ended with the SUV in a ditch after it rolled
2 hours ago
High-speed police chases are risky business and many times they’re called off due to the inherent danger they pose. The potential risks weren’t great enough in the eyes of Arkansas State Police (ASP) to stop them from using a PIT maneuver while driving at 100+mph (160+ km/h). What started out as a speeding ticket ended with a totaled Toyota RAV4 and a bucket of charges.
According to the description in the video below, the dashcam we see here is from ASP Officer Blaine Middlecoff on June 13th. He claims that he began pursuing this Toyota when he clocked it going 76 mph (122 km/h) in a 60 mph (96 km/h) zone. Officer Middlecoff activates his lights and siren but the suspect doesn’t pull over. Instead, the RAV4 speeds up.
Exactly two minutes and fifteen seconds after turning on his lights to pull over the RAV4, Middlecoff uses the PIT maneuver against it at 105 mph (168 km/h). “I observed the suspect vehicle overturn multiple times before entering the ditch,” he says in his report.
Read: Running From Police In A Toyota Prius Goes As Well As You Can Imagine
Police identified the suspect as Randal Proctor who says to officers in the video that he ran because he didn’t have a license and had a small amount of weed on him. Now, he’s facing multiple traffic violations, tampering with physical evidence, possession of schedule 6 less than 4 oz, and felony fleeing in a vehicle.
Arkansas police have come under fire in the past for using such a violent method to stop a chase. Controlling exactly where a vehicle will go after a PIT maneuver at 100 mph or more is nearly impossible, which increases danger to the public. That’s why so many departments won’t allow such a move.
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Of course, it’s worth noting that other police departments like the one in New York have also used questionable force during chases in recent months. Bystanders have filmed the NYPD utilizing SUVs in dangerous ways while chasing scooters not once but twice already this year.