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Police dashcam shows harrowing pursuit of suspect with wife, 1-year-old inside truck

Published  June 24, 2020 11:43pm EDT
Crime and Public Safety
FOX 2 Detroit

STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. (FOX 2) - It was a 40-minute chase involving a man speeding from police with his wife, and their baby in the truck. He apparently said he wanted to see how far he could push police. 

In newly released dashcam video from police, the truck was riding on rims and stop sticks, didn't stop him. The driver, a dad, his wife and baby in the truck during the pursuit.  

Police chase of pickup with driver’s wife and child inside ends safely in Sterling Heights

It was a 40 minute chase that could have ended much worse.

"He doesn't care about his 1-year-old and certainly doesn't care about his wife in the car, but we do," said Lt. Mario Bastianelli, Sterling Heights police.

Lt. Bastianelli says Sterling Heights police were called to Hall and Hayes Tuesday evening for an argument between a husband and wife. He was armed, threatening with a stick and taking off when police got there. 

"Pursuits are very dangerous situations you never know how they are going to end up," Bastianelli said. 

Video shows the driver has no intentions of stopping, running red lights right out of Sterling Heights.

"The driver said he wanted to see 'How far he could push the officers,'" Bastianelli said. 

With a parade of police from several agencies behind him, stop sticks were deployed which is a dangerous tactic for officers. 

"Every time our officers do that they're risking their lives," he said.

It slowed the suspect down, but he's able to get 14 miles away from where he started driving on a dead end road, ending at the water. But the Macomb County Marine Division was waiting and ready. 

"They had their dive team and their marine division just in case he decided he was going to go off into the river," he said. 

Before going in - a fence finally brought the pursuit to an end. 

"Our officers rushed to the car to get the baby and the wife to safety while we got the guy into custody," said Bastianelli.

The woman and her baby are okay and no officers were injured.

"This day and age of catching police doing something wrong, our officers did everything right," Bastianelli said. "Which is fantastic."

The driver is off the street, in police custody. He is expected to be charged Thursday.