In a surprising comedy of errors, a Florida police officer executed a PIT maneuver on what turned out to be the wrong vehicle. Worse yet, the wrong car turned out to be an unmarked cop car. The incident, which was captured on video, highlights a dramatic mistake during a high-speed police pursuit.
A high-speed chase ended with a Florida cop performing a pit maneuver– on a police captain in an unmarked car
A viral video with over 780,000 views captured an embarrassing mishap on a Florida road involving two police vehicles. The video shows a Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) trooper in hot pursuit of a dark sedan. The chase takes both vehicles around bystander vehicles on a highway and down an exit ramp.
A trooper was reportedly following directions from dispatch when he closed the gap with a dark Kia sedan. Next, the officer got into position to perform a precision immobilization technique (PIT) maneuver. Now, when performed correctly, a PIT maneuver can send a suspect car spinning and end a pursuit.
However, the FHP officer used the PIT maneuver on the wrong car. Moments after the dark sedan spun out, the occupant reached over and activated his red-and-blue police lights. Understandably, the officer who performed the PIT was embarrassed to find out that he had hit an Opa-locka police captain in an unmarked car.
“Oh, I got the wrong car! I didn’t see your lights in the back! I thought it was the car,” he said. He explained that he saw a vehicle matching the description with dark-tinted windows. As a result, he thought the unmarked cop car was the suspect vehicle.
So you might be asking, “How does this happen?” For starters, many unmarked cop cars are derivations of the agency-liveried models roaming your local streets and highways. However, instead of eye-catching graphics and large exterior emergency lighting arrays, an unmarked car will be subtle. Think Dodge Charger in a dark color with understated emergency lighting.
Not this car, though. Interestingly enough, the unmarked cop car was a Kia Stinger. The Stinger was Kia’s formidable, albeit unsuccessful take on a performance sedan. Needless to say, it looks nothing like an unmarked Ford Crown Victoria.
However, as the dash cam video continues, viewers can hear a police officer admit that it was his fault. The suspect vehicle was a “blue Mercedes.” Incidentally, the officer had mistaken the Mercedes-Benz for the Kia performance sedan and executed the PIT maneuver. Still, according to WPLG 10, the Opa-locka officer in the unmarked car was following the suspect vehicle without lights or sirens.
Check out the video of the chase and the PIT maneuver below!
