Teens Jump Out of Moving Van to Escape Police, Get Caught Anyway

One 18-year-old driver who had just gotten his license was summoned by the police to pull over because he was busted speeding. Instead, he engaged the cops in a high-speed chase and eventually jumped out of the moving van in a desperate, quite silly attempt at evading justice.

It goes without saying, he got caught anyway. The other day, he got a stern telling-off in court for his stupid gesture, after pleading guilty to reckless driving, the Daily Mail reports.

Video of the incident is available at the bottom of the page. You can see the white Ford Transit overtaking cars whilst speeding in Leeds and then entering a residential area. That’s when the driver, Johnny Buckland, who was a freshly minted driver with a license, realized he couldn’t speed his way out of trouble. So both he and his passenger jumped out of the van, without as much as bothering to kill the engine.

Prosecutors told the court that the Ford Transit came to a stop eventually, after going through a fence and crashing into a parked car. Luckily, no one was hurt.

Buckland was caught a few blocks away and used the “scared” card to try and get out of trouble. The judge didn’t buy it: he sentenced the young driver to eight months’ detention, a 2-year driving ban, 200 hours of unpaid work and a 10-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

“I take the view you are very immature,” the judge told Buckland in court. “Leaving a van running down a residential road in the afternoon just so you can get off and get away from the police is just such a stupid, reckless, dangerous, call-it-what-you-will thing to do.”