The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

A Motorcycle Thief’s Last Ride

Posted on | January 20, 2022 | Comments Off on A Motorcycle Thief’s Last Ride

So, police in the San Fernando Valley suburbs of Los Angeles spotted a stolen motorcycle near a mall. When they blue-lighted him, the rider took off at high speed. Following department procedure, police terminated their ground pursuit, instead letting their helicopter track the motorcycle. Police radio traffic alerted the news helicopters of L.A. television stations to the chase, and the local CBS affiliate, KCAL-TV, had their “Sky 9” chopper over the scene as the thief raced along Roscoe Boulevard in the West Hills neighborhood at speeds exceeding 100 mph.

The news anchor narrating the chase had just begun commenting on how dangerous this was — both for unsuspecting motorists and the high-speed rider himself — when KA-WHAMM-O!

 

Maybe they’ll take that video offline, so I’ll give you the verbal description: At an intersection, a maroon-colored sedan was taking a left turn when the motorcycle slammed into the right front fender, sending the rider cartwheeling through the sky. There is an unedited video of this crash and the aftermath, in which you can see a police officer approach the body of the rider, which had landed in a bloody pile at least 20 yards from the crash. “10-54.” Call the coroner for a pickup.

News accounts call it a “horrific” crash, but it was oddly beautiful, if you have a certain aesthetic sensibility for these things. Police did not immediately name the suspect, but he won’t be stealing any more motorcycles, and folks in L.A. got to see it live on TV.




 

Category: California, Crime

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