Arkansas state trooper retires after crashing patrol car into wrong vehicle during chase
Corporal used Nascar technique to send Cadillac speering off motorway
An Arkansas state trooper has retired after shunting the wrong car off a motorway in a bungled effort to stop a speeding driver during a chase.
Corporal Thomas Hubbard was chasing two cars that had been driving at more than 100mph when he caught a white Cadillac saloon and nudged the rear - causing the suspect to veer from the road into a barrier.
The precision immobilisation technique (PIT), also known as a tactical vehicle intervention, is a method adopted from Nascar that US police can use to forcibly stop fleeing cars.
But in this case, on the chase near Little Rock, Hubbard performed the manoeuvre on a similar car whose driver had done nothing wrong but was shunted off into the central reservation. Police dashcam footage shows patrol cars then surrounding the stricken Cadillac.
Neither of the two occupants of the Cadillac were injured in the incident and Yahoo reported they declined the offer of medical treatment.
An ongoing investigation within the Arkansas State Police department has led to Hubbard submitting his resignation. He has not been on duty since the incident and has not commented.
State police spokeswoman Cindy Murphy said Tuesday that Hubbard had not been on duty since the incident, which happened on September 10.
“Immediately we knew there was an issue because the vehicle that was [checked] was not involved in the pursuit,” she said, adding she was unsure if the intended target was caught.
Arkansas Police are, according to Carscoops, more willing than other US forces to deploy the precision immobilisation technique and will do so above the 35mph threshold other state’s officers stick to.
“Generally speaking, it’s considered a dangerous tactic as it can lead to rollovers and even injure the officers involved,” the site comments.
It has not been reported how fast the Cadillac was travelling when it speered off into the barrier.