There are plenty of ways to make a police chase worse for yourself. According to police in Wales, one man apparently decided to check off as many of them as possible.
Authorities say the 32-year-old suspect was already disqualified from driving when he was spotted weaving through traffic and performing wheelies on a Sur-Ron e-bike. If that wasn’t enough, the pursuit ended with him throwing the bike off a bridge into a river, according to BBC Wales.
As wild as that sounds, police had the whole thing recorded from above. Between helicopter footage and officers on the ground, investigators say there wasn’t much room for the suspect to argue about what had happened.
The chase ultimately ended with an arrest, a guilty plea, and a year behind bars. Safe to say, the bike wasn’t the only thing that ended up diving that day.
Wheelies Through Traffic Didn’t End Well
The above video was posted to YouTube by Not Guilty TV and shows the 32-year-old suspect, Owen Pendree, riding along Corporation Road in Newport on June 30. He had apparently been weaving through traffic, pulling wheelies while riding a Sur-Ron e-bike.
Finally, the chase ended when the National Police Air Service, which tracked him from above. In the footage, officers say the rider’s actions were “stupid.”
When the police deployed a stinger, it did stop Pendree from going much further. However, he just picked up the bike and kept on going instead.
The River Wasn’t a Great Hiding Place
According to helicopter footage, Pendree ended up throwing the Sun-Ron off of a bridge and into the River Usk. It didn’t really matter that he did this, especially since officers had aerial footage of everything that was going on.
PC Nathan Ford of Gwent Police said that “he had little option but to plead guilty” because of it. When searched, Pendree also didn’t have a valid driver’s license.
Pendree later pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, driving while disqualified, and using a motor vehicle without insurance at Newport Magistrates’ Court. He was sentenced to 12 months in prison and disqualified from driving for three-and-a-half years.
While the bike may now be at the bottom of the River Usk, authorities made it clear that throwing away the evidence didn’t change the outcome. If anything, it simply made an already unusual police chase even more memorable.