Police dashcam footage of the pursuit of a kidnapping suspect in Columbia County, Iowa. The incident, which took place on January 14, began when a woman who was asleep in the back of an SUV while her family went inside a truck stop at around 3:25 am was awoken to a man breaking into and stealing the vehicle. The suspect wouldn’t let the woman out of the SUV, so the woman kept calling 911 to plead for help.
Watch police absolutely wreck a deported felon in a car chase here.
Understandably, police felt the pressure as they hunted for the stolen vehicle, hoping they would be able to rescue the woman before the unthinkable could happen. After one officer located it and gave chase, others set up on the side of the roads the suspect was blasting down at high speeds, setting up spike strips to damage the tires and hopefully slow the SUV down.
At first the spike strips didn’t seem to have any real effect and you can feel the frustration of the lead pursuit officer. However, one by one the tires started to fall apart and come off the wheels, until only the rear passenger-side is remaining. However, repeated spiking attempts apparently failed to puncture it.
After finally losing the rear passenger-side tire, the SUV starts skating on the road, with the driver obviously struggling through the turns. Yet he still doesn’t give up, dropping his speed slightly while continuing to press forward even as a caravan of police gather on his tail.
You can hear over the radio a K9 officer excitedly barking, foreshadowing of what awaits this kidnapper. And yet he still persisted, pushing the tireless SUV to the point it hits a guardrail and even goes off the road. This guy was so determined he kept pushing the poor vehicle, dashing hopes of a sudden resolution to a horrific situation for his victim.
With an innocent victim in the SUV, police understandably don’t want to perform a PIT until the chase speed is much slower. After all, we’ve seen high-speed PITs end with vehicles going airborne, a fine resolution when there’s not a kidnapped person inside.
As the lead officer waits for the vehicle to slow down enough for a PIT to be less risky, pieces of the SUV literally come tumbling off, striking the officer’s cruiser. Obviously, the suspect is either crazy, incredibly desperate, or dumb as a rock. Whichever it is, that doesn’t bode well for taking him without a struggle once police finally bring the chase to an end.
When they finally PIT this guy, the SUV almost tips over, but thankfully bounces back onto all four tire-free wheels. Miraculously, an officer gets the victim out of the SUV quickly, but the suspect isn’t so cooperative. He even gets combative about following orders, even though he has several guns trained on him and the dog seems rather eager to use him as a chew toy. The temerity of criminals never ceases to amaze.
There are a few takeaways from this video. Criminals want your car, so always be on alert. We don’t know if someone didn’t lock the doors on the SUV because the one woman was inside, but it’s possible. Since they were at a truck stop in a rural area, perhaps they thought it was safe. Thieves prey on your carelessness, so unless you’re inside your vehicle, keep it locked. We’ve seen cars stolen as the owner is pumping gas, with the thief climbing in through the passenger side. You can’t be too careful.
Also, bravo to this woman for calling 911 and giving as much info as she could. No doubt she was terrified and this piece of human scum threatened her for calling the cops. She provided information which helped officers find her more quickly.
Stop Sticks have understandably become quite popular with many law enforcement agencies and it’s easy to see why after the one officer struggles to untangle and properly deploy his spike strip.
Finally, it’s great to see police from different agencies with differing policies working together to rescue someone. This is what great policing is all about. Good job, officers!
Via Columbia County Police Department
[…] control of the vehicle, realizing that if the carjackers got away with it, their grandkids would be kidnapped and possibly worse. If there’s ever a motivation to fight hard, that’s […]