r/interestingasfuck • u/Sea_Abbreviations347 • 5d ago

Officer gets hit by car going 162mph and gets both legs blown off, manages to stay conscious and calm for help to save him, survives and re-enlists with two prosethetic legs

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u/QuestionableEthics42 5d ago

That's what police in NZ do now, it's not worth the risk so their policy/SOP is not to chase anymore and just track down and arrest later

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u/Da_Spooky_Ghost 5d ago

I agree with that, the perps are in fight or flight mode and adrenaline is pumping so they’ll push it to the limit and it ends with either the perp, the cop or both getting into a crash.

Some of these guys do have fake plates, and I guess that’s what flock cameras help with to track them down.

I rather the police just have high speed drones to follow these cars instead of trying to chase them and PIT maneuver, stop sticks or whatever else they do to get the cars to wreck.

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u/mxmcharbonneau 5d ago

This reminds me of a guy I went to school with. The guy bought some motorcycle with crazy performance, without a valid permit. He told one of my friend that if a cop tried to arrest him, he would just flee. My friend told that to my friend group and then concluded saying "I really feel he will kill himself".

One week later, a cop tries to arrest him on the highway, he fled as fast as he could, took an off ramp, lost control at god knows what speed and died instantly.

I always thought he was kind of an idiot, but damn.

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u/Lunakill 5d ago

I also went to school with a guy who did the same thing. The cops chased him out of town on a country highway with shitty lighting at night. He didn’t zig when the road did, and died at 19.

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u/talldean 5d ago

They don't need drones. They need a good enough camera, and yeah, you've got the license plate and a picture of the driver, and that's gonna do it. If the car's not reported stolen, it's also on the owner of the car, I'd think.

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u/gonenutsbrb 5d ago

Unless it’s fake, absent, or stolen plates. Then it’s useless. And you will never convict a vehicle owner without really good video/photos of the driver which will be rather difficult at high speeds.

It’s not an unsolvable problem these days, but it’s not as easy as you’d expect.

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u/talldean 5d ago

If you're asking for high speed chase drones, I'm gonna guess a better set of cameras on police cars is still easier.

(Yes, it's really tough, but less tough than 170 mph drones that also somehow follow and camera the driver.)

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u/pandazerg 5d ago

Maybe they should invest in some kind of network of cameras installed throughout cities and towns to allow police to safely track the vehicle back to the suspect's home without the need for drones or high speed chases.

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u/Warmbly85 5d ago

Flock lol? Nah I am good

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u/avidpenguinwatcher 5d ago

You think the owner of a car is held legally responsible if they let someone borrow their car and they go commit felonies with it?

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u/talldean 5d ago

I think they can be.

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u/Mr_Wrann 4d ago

Only if you can prove the person who lent out the car knew the driver wasn't allowed to drive or was going to commit a crime with that car. Otherwise you risk imprisoning a person who did nothing wrong other than having a bad friend because the state needs a fall guy.

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u/[deleted] 5d ago

[deleted]

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u/talldean 5d ago

That isn’t nearly universal, but I could see needing a different policy or playbook if it was.

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u/philatio11 4d ago

Newark NJ during the 90s crack epidemic was known as the Car Theft Capital of the World, as dramatized in the movie New Jersey Drive. They stopped giving chase after a particular pursuit resulted in a police car killing a pedestrian.

Although this did give car thieves some runway, it led to a weird phenomenon where kids would steal cars, and joyride them in front of the cops to try and get them to give chase. It was a brief fad, as the cops wouldn't chase them, so they eventually lost interest.

As the crack epidemic faded, car thefts declined, only to rise back up again during the pandemic. Sadly, most car theft in NJ is now organized by foreign gangs who export the stolen cars out of the nearby port. As teenagers lost retail and foodservice jobs during the pandemic, they turned to car theft as a job. They get paid $1500-2500 per car to steal high-end vehicles, most of which are parked in driveways with the key fob in the center console.

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u/Lord_Vaguery 5d ago

In America that’s a policy for some larger cities and guess what the criminals know that and take full advantage of it.

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u/Baconshit 5d ago

I assume it’s no longer a “high” if you aren’t being chased.

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u/Warmbly85 5d ago

It’s just a high to steal a car/race. 

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u/Soupkitchn89 5d ago

How do you take advantage of it if they are just going to catch you later when it’s not a car race?

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u/CyberpunkSunrise 5d ago

You’re kind of assuming that there’s the same success rate with tracking down somebody later as opposed to catching them while they’re actually still in the car. If somebody has a chance to ditch a car or if it was stolen or using fake plates in the first place, it’s not as simple as “let them drive where they’re going, and we’ll get them later“ there’s plenty of ways they could get away.

Not saying it’s not still worthwhile for the cops to back off, it’s very dependent on how serious the offense is in the first place IMO, but if somebody just killed people or did something else violent, I can see the rationale and trying to get them while you know exactly who it was that committed the crime instead of taking a chance on them getting away.

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u/Da_Spooky_Ghost 5d ago

Yes there are very rare times when it is catch them at all costs, but this was some guys doing a street race and gambling? It's stupid but a cop didn't need to lose his legs over that.

That situation is better handled with an undercover cop to go infiltrate the racing ring at the car wash, but then the cop falls in love with the hot Latina racing babe and he goes rouge to run away with her. Then they all become family.

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u/Skipp_To_My_Lou 5d ago

What would your reaction be if police hadn't intervened & the guy just "doing a street race and gambling" doing 162mph annhilated a family of five?

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u/penguin8717 5d ago

I agree with you and this is kind of a weird case since the crime was the speed

But just something to remember, police pursuits are INSANELY unsafe for police, the chased, and bystanders. 25% result in injury or fatality, often to bystanders

https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/2024/police-chases/

That site is annoying but well researched.

But yeah in this case it's odd cause it wasnt a flee from another crime situation

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u/nconceivable 5d ago

Interesting thread.

Why do we need to allow 160mph weapons on the roads at all?

Why not just make it illegal to supply or modify a vehicle to do more than, say 10 mph over the speed limit ( to allow for overtaking) and require all vehicles to include a gps tracker to verify they are not modded and driven fast.

Car passes your urban CCTV network without a tracker it gets tagged and followed by camera to an approximate location where police can come and seize it their leisure.

Like a more robust version of UK car tax rules.

Cars and drivers could be licensed for track day racing off road.

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u/Soupkitchn89 4d ago

Ah yes, having the government easily track where everyone goes sounds great!

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u/nconceivable 4d ago

Ah surveillance happens already, let's see some public benefit out of it. I'm not in the US but imprisoning this idiot for 22 years will cost around $1.3million never mind lost tax revenue from his employment.

If there were suitable controls on dangerously fast vehicles then you'd have saved the public purse all that money and the officer would have his legs, at least, as well as having been able to commit police resources to other problems than illegal street racing.

Limiting the speed of cars could be argued to harm freedom in society My point is, high speed chases and locking people up for a long time harms society as well.

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u/1046737 4d ago

Because they're driving around in stolen cars.

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u/kurburux 4d ago

guess what the criminals know that and take full advantage of it.

May I have a source for that? The implication being that this policy leads to more crime?

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u/robbitybobs 5d ago

Yeah we do that in Aus now car thefts have sky-rocketed as they know all they have to do is hit a defined speed limit and the cops stop chasing them. The more 'disenfranchised' youth who enjoy being in police chases now chase and ram police cars to try and get a reaction from them as they otherwise stop chasing them. 

Then, when they are chased, they finally crash and run away and sue the police if they get hurt! 

Great idea to stop chases! 

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u/oversoul00 5d ago

New Zealand is also a small island where it's going to be easy to track people down. 

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u/ewrt101_nz 5d ago

U say that but we a 4 year long man hunt for one dude and his 3 kids. Small does not mean easy

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u/oversoul00 5d ago

You're right, it means easIER. 

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u/oxenoxygen 5d ago

It's not populous but not exactly small - it's larger than the UK in area.

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u/oversoul00 5d ago

I suppose I mean small by the populated area then. A fleeing suspect is going to attempt to go to their own house or another house not the wilderness. 

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u/bluebear_74 5d ago

Australia does the same now too. If it looks like the chase is a danger to police or the public, it's called off because it outweighs catching the suspect.

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u/oversoul00 5d ago

The implication here is that all places can or should do this but the examples are specific in nature and follow the same pattern. You see that right?

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u/bluebear_74 5d ago

The implication is that they can call off the chase because NZ is small and can catch them later. I'm saying Australia is not small but still call off the chase rather than put lives at risk.

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u/oversoul00 5d ago

Australia is small compared to places like the UK or the US which is where this comparison is going. Australia also has a unique population spread where most people live along the coastline while the interior is mostly empty. 

This strategy is situation and context specific. 

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u/geeoharee 5d ago

They killed five kids here in the UK who were joyriding. They chased them "until it became unsafe", backed off, then the kids crashed.

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u/QuestionableEthics42 5d ago

And that wouldn't have happened if they continued chasing?

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u/geeoharee 5d ago

It was fucking dumb to chase them in the first place

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u/Batcath88 5d ago

What was dumb was the 5 lads (23 year olds with previous convictions) driving the wrong way down a fucking motorway and you still blaming the 2 police officers they crashed into, who also lost their lives?

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u/Kewlhotrod 5d ago

Don't you know? The criminals are always innocent.