Believe it or not, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen someone try to run from police in a Toyota Prius. For surprising reasons, the little hybrid hatchback doesn’t go down easily, making us question the wisdom in choosing such a vehicle for a police chase.
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The incident in question went down in Florida with troopers called to join in the pursuit after the suspect stole the Prius. That’s right, we’ve reached the point where thieves are targeting the funky Toyota hybrids. Or someone stole their grandma’s car and she called the cops.
At first troopers try just boxing the Prius in and forcing it to slow down. We see this maneuver in Florida a lot and it often works well. But this suspect has other ideas and foils their attempt.
That’s when one of the troopers makes the call and sets up to do a PIT. In his report, he says the Prius was going a scorching 89 mph in a 65 mph zone. We’re joking – by today’s standards that’s really not all that fast. And we’re pretty sure from what we’ve seen in the past a Prius can go much faster when pushed.
Thankfully this suspect wasn’t pushing harder because PIT attempts over 100 mph seem to get pretty dicey. Also, the Dodge Charger Pursuits can keep up no problem at that speed.
To our surprise, this slower-going driver was still able to dance the Toyota right out of two PIT attempts. Never have we compared a Prius to a ballerina, but this guy makes it all look like ballet. Don’t be fooled, this takes considerable practice so we’re guessing this suspect has experience.
The third time is a charm as troopers finally pull the guy from the Prius after the PIT. The only problem is he leaves the car in drive and it rolls away. Maybe he thought the distraction would keep troopers from arresting him?
Image via Scooper/YouTube
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