Video: Man attempts to stop high-speed car chase - by standing in front of police patrol car

BMW 1 Series driver was apprehended after a car chase and jailed for 14 months

(West Midlands police)

A man deliberately stood in front of a police patrol car in a futile attempt to help his friend escape in a high speed chase through Birmingham.

Extraordinary West Midlands Police footage shows traffic officers pulling over the silver BMW 1 Series on Weoley Castle Road, Birmingham, in February.

A passenger exits the vehicle, which officers believed to have been stolen, and appears to have a brief chat with one of the officers but as he does so, the driver Yassir Ali takes the opportunity to speed off.

His friend, an unidentified man, steps in front of the police patrol car in an attempt to stop the vehicle giving chase – but is easily evaded by the officers who then chase Ali through the busy Birmingham streets.

The pursuit, all captured by the officers’ dashcam, shows Ali reaching speeds of up to 77 mph as officers pursue him in the pouring rain.

The chase comes to an end when Ali – attempting to evade a white van moving in the opposite direction – appears to crash into a shop front.

Officers took the 29-year-old into custody following the chase on 22 February, telling reporters that Ali “put innocent members of the public at risk”.

Ali was jailed for 14 months on 30 March when he appeared at Birmingham Crown Court.

PC Neal Drew of the force's central motorway policing group said: "Ali’s actions that day were completely unacceptable. By driving the way he did he put innocent members of the public at risk.

"We take this kind of dangerous driving extremely seriously and that has been reflected in the lengthy sentence handed down by the courts."