By Steven Symes 
Never before have we seen a cop stab a suspect’s tire before, which is only slightly less impressive than shooting out the tires on a fleeing vehicle. As you’re about to see in the bodycam and dashcam footage included, a deputy dealing with a suspect who refuses to get out of his truck thinks on his feet, stabbing one of the tires as the guy suddenly drives off.
Watch a road rage suspect push cops around using his heavy-duty truck.
It’s such a smooth, fluid move we had to rewind the video and watch it a few times. The first time we almost couldn’t believe what we saw and heard, the air suddenly hissing out as the tire gave its telltale death rattle.
Before that interaction, Van Buren County deputies were in Paw Paw, Michigan where they spotted a wanted suspect in his pickup and performed a traffic stop. As you see in the footage, the suspect refuses to roll down his window more than just a crack, claiming he’s going to turn himself in. With deputies right there, it’s the perfect time and place.
Instead of just giving up, the guy engages four-wheel drive and puts the transmission in gear, obviously in preparation to flee. That gave the deputy the heads-up, so he got out his knife and went to work on the rear tire.
A slow-rolling chase ensues, which probably would’ve been faster had the tire not become shredded rubber.
It’s Sheriff Daniel Abbott himself who gets in front of the suspect’s truck, finally ending the chase. Considering the guy was driving back towards his house where he likely had a way to dig in, making the situation far more dangerous, it’s a good thing he was stopped on the road.
The only thing we can think of that would’ve been more effective is using Tire Terminators as the truck sat stationary. Those will also deflate the tires and are a good preventative measure when dealing with a suspect likely to flee. But the knife in the tire was the next best thing and good improvisation in an unpredictable situation.
Image via PoliceActivity/YouTube