A half-serious half-funny incident happened in Denver the other day, when someone driving a John Deere tractor led police on a slow-speed chase throughout the town.
The tractor was hauling farming equipment, no less, Fox News reports.
The chase lasted about 30 minutes and began in the City Park area, where the Denver Zoo is located. It ended in the Lower Downtown neighborhood, but only after a police officer decided to ram his patrol car head-on into the tractor, thus stopping it in its tracks.
Until he did, though, the tractor plowed (almost literally) through the city streets and pavements, causing considerable damage to parked cars and buildings. No pedestrians were hurt, police say.
Though officers initially considered calling in an armored, tank-like vehicle to stop the tractor, they continued with the chase. The officer who rammed into it thought the damage and potential injury was worth saving lives: he wanted to stop the tractor before people were hurt.
The impact was strong enough for the cruiser’s airbags to deploy.
“As soon as that collision happened, the officer that was in that driver's side was out that door, and was out with his Taser like instantly,” witness Marcos Willman tells the media outlet. “I feel like it was just adrenaline, just like up and we're getting this guy.”
The 2 cops in the cruiser were taken to the hospital for the injuries sustained in the crash. The tractor driver, a male whose identity hasn’t been made public, was also rushed to the hospital by ambulance. Among other things, he also suffered “multiple dog bites while resisting arrest.”
Police are yet to disclose more information on the strange incident, like the suspect’s motivation, whether he was under the influence, or the severity of injuries sustained.
The chase lasted about 30 minutes and began in the City Park area, where the Denver Zoo is located. It ended in the Lower Downtown neighborhood, but only after a police officer decided to ram his patrol car head-on into the tractor, thus stopping it in its tracks.
Until he did, though, the tractor plowed (almost literally) through the city streets and pavements, causing considerable damage to parked cars and buildings. No pedestrians were hurt, police say.
Though officers initially considered calling in an armored, tank-like vehicle to stop the tractor, they continued with the chase. The officer who rammed into it thought the damage and potential injury was worth saving lives: he wanted to stop the tractor before people were hurt.
The impact was strong enough for the cruiser’s airbags to deploy.
“As soon as that collision happened, the officer that was in that driver's side was out that door, and was out with his Taser like instantly,” witness Marcos Willman tells the media outlet. “I feel like it was just adrenaline, just like up and we're getting this guy.”
The 2 cops in the cruiser were taken to the hospital for the injuries sustained in the crash. The tractor driver, a male whose identity hasn’t been made public, was also rushed to the hospital by ambulance. Among other things, he also suffered “multiple dog bites while resisting arrest.”
Police are yet to disclose more information on the strange incident, like the suspect’s motivation, whether he was under the influence, or the severity of injuries sustained.
#Denver #tractor #slowspeedpursuit pic.twitter.com/jBQTEzlK9o
— garbuckle (@gazucci) July 21, 2018
Witnesses at the business next door sharing these pictures of @DenverPolice taking the suspect away in an ambulance. @kdvr @channel2kwgn #denvertractor pic.twitter.com/pEj1tNcwfY
— Alex Rose (@AlexRoseNews) July 21, 2018