Watch: Who Needs a Police Dog When This Cop's on the Scene?
Police dogs provide a number of valuable services. They can smell drugs. They’re lightning quick. They’re tough.
All of those are great. However, you don’t really need a K-9 unit when you’ve got this police officer from a viral video that’s just getting a bit of internet love even four years after the fact.
So this crazy video begins with an even more crazy story. According to WLKY-TV, the driver stole a semi truck in Louisville, Kentucky, and managed to evade police for the better part of 24 hours.
“The chase began Friday afternoon on Interstate 64 around Tucker Station Road,” WLKY reported on March 22, 2014, when the 44-year-old driver of a stolen tractor-trailer cab tried to hit a Louisville Metro Police officer and a Jeffersontown patrol car.
It wasn’t long before authorities found out more about the vehicle.
“We later learned that the vehicle was stolen last night and the owner of the vehicle actually got behind it by Oxmoor Mall and identified it as his truck and called metro,” Jeffersontown Police Chief Rick Sanders said.
“LMPD’s pursuit ended just before 3:30 p.m. when the chase got into heavy traffic around Blankenbaker Parkway,” WLKY-TV reported. “At that time, Kentucky State Police and Shelby County police were notified of the chase.
“And we were talking to the pursuing officers on the radio and telling them, ‘OK, this is what is ahead of you and this is what is behind you,'” Chief Sanders said. “We could tell how heavy traffic was, and the officers did as directed. I think they did a great job.”
I’d say so, yeah. The video of the incident gained viral fame years later when it was posted on Twitter this weekend. Pay close attention to the police officer coming from the back:
No idea who that cop is but if a NFL team doesn’t sign him this week they’re idiots https://t.co/DqquziInup
— Denlesks (@Denlesks) August 19, 2018
The New York Giants just drafted Saquon Barkley with the second pick in the draft. As a Giants fan, I’m psyched, but we could have gotten Sam Darnold and this guy. Plus, he can clearly play defense, too.
Unfortunately, one Twitter user put the kibosh on my dreams.
I just YouTubed this clip–this happened over 4 years ago–the fast cop has probably fallen victim to Father Time by now. Speed doesn't last long!
— Paul NoCal ☪ (@Paul_in_NoCal) August 19, 2018
Still, some were even willing to give this scouting report:
https://twitter.com/Chad_In_Lincoln/status/1030993391243456512
And some even compared him to one of the University of Alabama’s all-time football greats:
https://twitter.com/AustinParks62/status/1031776892226072578
All ersatz combine reports aside, police were relieved the incident didn’t get more serious.
“We are trying to find out why in the world this guy fled for as long as he did,” Sanders said. “The chase lasted about an hour, a couple minutes shy of an hour. (We’re) very lucky no other cars are involved and no injuries.
“We apprehended a felon who attempted to run over a couple of police officers (while) in possession of a stolen truck and nobody was injured.”
The tackled driver, meanwhile, faced a laundry list of charges. No word on what happened to the cop, but I’ll say this much:
I can guarantee he probably won’t be kneeing for the anthem.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
