By Steven Symes 
Tracking a stolen car as the driver pushes it to high speeds through a city can be tricky. After all, pursuing officers can potentially wreck out trying to keep up, putting regular citizens in harm’s way. But with an eye in the sky, police in California were able to know every move of this stolen Chevy Camaro as it wound through the streets of Vacaville.
Watch a Corvette outrun police helicopters in a high-speed chase.
The presence of the California Highway Patrol helicopter over Vacaville at that time was pure coincidence. It had just finished helping with a chase in Oakland and was returning to its home base when Flock cameras in Vacaville got a hit on the stolen muscle car.
Police were on high alert for the Camaro after it smoked CHP and sheriff’s deputies in a chase the day before. As Vacaville officers tried pulling the suspect over, he took off again, pushing well past 170 mph on surface streets.
Instead of trying to match that, police were able to back off and let the CHP helicopter use its infrared sensor to track every movement the suspect made. He might have had zero idea there was an air unit overhead, believing if he didn’t see those cherries and berries in his rearview mirror he was in the clear.
Eventually he slowed down, likely believing he lost all the cops pursuing him. But the eye in the sky sees all and knew exactly where he was. That’s when he ditched the muscle car, probably thinking without it police would have no idea who he was and he could get away without consequences.
He was wrong and as ground units moved in, the helicopter was feeding information about the suspect’s exact location. It even pinpointed where he hid a bag allegedly containing drugs and a gun. The technology onboard modern helicopters has proven invaluable in police pursuits like this one and it’s easy to see why.
Image via California Highway Patrol/Facebook
Follow The Auto Wire on Google News.