By Steven Symes 
Usually, a pothole is at best an annoyance and at worst something that can seriously damage your car, but Ohio State Highway Patrol is grateful one helped stop a fleeing suspect. We’ve never thought about public roads being in such disrepair they keep suspects from effectively fleeing police, but in this case that was the silver lining.
Rich kids in an Audi go 140 mph running from police.
According to Ohio State Highway Patrol, a stolen Dodge Charger was disabled by a rather nasty pothole on April 8 after the driver fled a trooper. The Mopar, along with a Ford Mustang and an unspecified Toyota, was clocked doing 110 mph in a 65 mph zone on Interstate 680 outside the city of Austintown, reports WFMJ.
As the trooper started tailing the suspects, he noticed the Charger didn’t have a license plate. That usually means someone is up to no good. In this case, it seems the lack of a tag was to keep cops from realizing the Dodge was stolen.
We think most police assume vehicles without a plate have been boosted, especially a Charger.
That’s why the trooper locked onto the Dodge, following it into the city as the other two vehicles went in different directions. It just so happened that by Martin Luther King Boulevard the suspect driver wouldn’t see and subsequently hit a rather large, nasty pothole.
While some might call it a “crime fighting” pothole, we know the truth is it’s probably broken axles, blown out tires, and bent suspension components on regular, law-abiding citizens’ cars as well. Potholes are indiscriminate in which vehicles they mangle.
After the driver and passenger bailed, running away on foot, troopers gave chase and captured the passenger. They’re still on the hunt for the driver. But they did determine the Charger had been stolen the previous day in Dayton, Ohio.
We hope the damage wasn’t too bad for the Dodge’s owner’s sake. But thanks to the pothole, the car will be returned.
Image via Ohio State Highway Patrol/Facebook