Bangkok police shoot out tyres in dramatic car chase

A video is going viral of Bangkok police officers shooting out the tyres of a fleeing car that did a runner at a checkpoint in Ekkamai. The incident took place last night when Thong Lor police attempted to stop a red Mitsubishi Mirage at a checkpoint, but the driver refused and tried to speed off.

At around 8pm yesterday, officers attempted to stop the red car at a checkpoint in the Ekkamai for a standard search. The car refused to stop and instead sped off with police quickly giving chase. Police officers managed to catch up with the car at the busy Pracha Songkroh intersection in Din Daeng when he was slowed by traffic.

While the chain of events is not fully clear, a noodle vendor in the area happened to witness the commotion and was quick to pull out a camera and record the incident as it took place. The short video, posted to Facebook, showed a motorbike on the ground in front of the car, believed to be a police patrol bike, with police approaching the car, guns drawn, as the man attempted to manoeuvre an escape route in the traffic.

In the video, police can be scrambling around the car with their guns out, and alternately pointing towards the window and lowering the guns towards the car’s tyres. Gunshots can be heard, as the police officers blew out all four tyres of the car.

But the driver persisted, attempting to drive away on flattened tyres, appearing to hit the motorbike on the ground as he tried to find a break in the traffic he could slip through. Eventually, though, he gave up and police were able to apprehend him.

Upon searching his car, it became clear why he attempted to evade the checkpoint. Police reported that inside the car they found a sword along with an undisclosed amount of methamphetamine. The driver was taken into custody and was set to appear in the Bangkok South District Court this morning. Sentencing information was not immediately available.

SOURCE: ASEAN Now