Police Dashcam Shows the Moment a Runaway 14-Year-Old Crashes on His Mini-bike

The squad car can be seen rushing toward the scene with its lights on, making a left turn just as Trent comes into the picture, cutting the corner on the sidewalk and making a run for it. The patrol car goes in pursuit mode, but after just a few hundred yards, the officers realize it's too dangerous and back off. The kid can be seen charging through a junction where there's a big yield sign, which is probably what convinced the law enforcers to call off the chase.

However, it proved to be too late. Despite the police car staying back, Trent continued to drive at speed and, come next crossroad, he ignored the stop sign and ran into a Pontiac Grand Prix. The crash proved to be fatal for the teenager who wasn't even wearing a helmet. The grieving family - who witnessed the whole event - blamed the police for the tragedy, and the boy's mother is pursuing legal action against the Detroit Police Department.

Well, the dashcam footage released recently makes it very clear that the police car stopped pursuing Trent one block away from the incident, so there's probably no case against the DPD, but this might spark once again the age-old debate about the usefulness of high-speed pursuits. One side argues that putting pressure on somebody running away from the law will only make them even more unpredictable and, thus, dangerous for those around, while the other says that you can't expect criminals to think they can get away just by speeding up a little, so chasing them is necessary.

At the end of the day, there probably isn't one general solution that can be applied in all circumstances and it should all come down to the officers' decision on the spot. In this case, after the kid refused to stop and ran away, they made the right call, but it proved to be in vain.