A British man, who was arrested for dangerous driving, tried to avoid suspicion by hopping into the backseat of his car and pretending he was not the driver -- an act that was caught on video.
West Midlands Police posted a video on social media Saturday that showed a dramatic car chase from start to finish.
It all began when police got an alert about a MINI Cooper being stolen during a burglary, according to a news release. A MINI Cooper was spotted on Sep. 18 that matched the description of the stolen vehicle. When police began to follow it, they say the driver of the MINI Cooper accelerated away from them, zooming towards the highway.
Police say the vehicle hit around 220 km/h as it weaved in and out of traffic. But it wasn’t until the driver tried to head the wrong way up an entrance ramp to the highway that police were able to stop it, choosing to ram their cruiser into the vehicle to bring it to a halt.
That’s when a second police vehicle, approaching the collision from the entrance ramp, captured video which shows the driver hopping into the back seat.
When police pulled the man out of the backseat of the car and handcuffed him, he protested.
“I wasn’t even driving,” he can be heard saying in the video.
“Yes you was, mate, it’s all on camera as well, pal, so let’s not be daft,” a police officer responds.
David Brennan, 23, was charged with dangerous driving and driving while disqualified. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail after admitting to the charges. He was given an additional three-year driving ban.
The police news release quoted one of the officers who pursued the vehicle, Sgt. Mitch Darby, as saying the situation was “appalling,” and that the man’s driving had put other drivers at risk.
“Brennan thought he could pull the wool over our eyes with a quick jump over the seats and into the back of the car,” Darby said, “but we’d seen it happen and it was all caught on video."
