Even among Arkansas State Police, Trooper Garrett Byrd is a legend. The man has repeatedly displayed some of the most impressive high-speed pursuit skills on the force. We’ve seen him PIT out quite a few fleeing suspects, something he does almost flawlessly every time. But this time around he didn’t do a PIT and didn’t even put the fleeing suspect in handcuffs.
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You’ll see in the dashcam footage Trooper Byrd spots a car blow through a red light before entering the highway, heading east toward Memphis. As he’s done so many other times, Trooper Byrd flips on his lights and safely makes his way through the traffic to catch up with the speeding car.
When he does, he sees the car has its emergency flashers on. We’ve seen fleeing criminals switch those on before during a chase, but this time it feels different. After all, the car has slowed down instead of continuing to tear down the highway to keep that commanding lead.
After Trooper Byrd closes the gap completely and the driver refuses to pull over, but slows down some, he goes in for the kill. But the driver, perhaps realizing she’s about to be pitted, slows way down, so he backs off.
This shows what great senses Trooper Byrd has. Even though he has no qualms about pitting a suspect, he knows that’s not the only solution to problems.
After ordering the driver out of the car at gunpoint, the frightened woman gingerly emerges, then scampers to her rear bumper. Trooper Byrd asks her why she didn’t pull over as he gets out his handcuffs.
That’s when he notices the woman is clearly suffering a severe panic attack. Instead of cuffing her, he sits her down on the guardrail and talks to her soothingly, calming her down. With EMS on the way to assist, the woman finally tells the trooper she was speeding to the hospital where her brother was taken after he was shot in the head.
So you never know, someone who looks like they’re up to no good could just be in a bad place, needing understanding rather than reprimand. Good on Trooper Byrd for sensing when that’s needed and showing how well trained ASP is.
Image via Police Pursuits/YouTube
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