Hitting a set of stop sticks, or spike strips as they’re also known, is a sure-fire way to bring any vehicle to a very slippery stop. The strip of metal spikes runs perpendicular to a road and punctures one or both sets of tyres as they’re rolled over.
When a car chase is ongoing, police will get ahead of the pursuit’s predicted path and lay out the traps, hoping to snare the running driver. If they’re successful, they’re almost guaranteed to either put the car off the road or bring it to a stop with multiple flat tyres.
However, Caliz Maldonado, a Fall River, Massachusetts man, was the unlucky victim of a set of spike strips intended for someone else entirely. Local police had placed them across the road on I-195 West, hoping to stop an ongoing and lengthy pursuit.
Instead, Maldonado, driving home from work, hit them and put his car completely out of commission. The stop sticks did their jobs and obliterated two of his tyres, leaving him no other choice but to pull over.
Fend For Yourself
Because of the late hour and the rarity of seeing stop sticks laid across a road, Maldonado didn’t recognise what he was about to roll over as he was driving home. Speaking to WPRI, he said: ” I saw this black strip in the road. I didn’t know what it was, to be honest. I was confused.”
Hitting them with his car, they immediately burst his tyres and almost took him off the road. At 65 MPH, it nearly ended in disaster. “I was scared at first, I lost control when it first popped my tires, and I tried to get off the highway because I didn’t want to hit another car.”
Lo and behold, as he waited by the side of the road with his incapacitated car, he watched the police chase pass him. He saw four police cruisers in pursuit of a car swerving back and forth across the road.
Seeing as the Massachusetts State Police were responsible for his wrecked tyres, he reached out to them for help, but they claimed they were too busy. “It felt like [the troopers] were like, ‘We’re not worried about you right now, we’re just worried about what’s going on,” he said.
In the end, he waited for an hour for a friend to come and tow his car.
Left To Cover the Cost
Now, it’s up to Maldonado to figure out how to pay for his messed-up car and begin the arduous process of claiming damages from the police. Not only that, but he also has to make his way back and forth from work without his usual transport. All he has to use now is a motorcycle.
“My rims are messed up, the tires are going to be expensive, and my bumper is messed up,” he said. He doesn’t know when he will be able to afford the repairs for his car.