Image via Fox56 WOLF TV/YouTube
We’ve seen a lot of police chases and this isn’t the first one to involve a U-Haul truck. However, this might be the first we’ve seen featuring an obviously empty U-Haul, which makes it all the more entertaining. After all, those trucks can really haul when there’s nothing loaded in the back.
This is why you don’t run red lights.
Caught on camera by a bystander in Dickson City, Pennsylvania on June 5, cellphone footage shows the small U-Haul rental truck fleeing from police while its rear door is completely open That’s how we know the truck was empty, giving it a weight advantage over the usual pursuits like this.
While you can hear other police sirens in the distance, we see one particular Ford Explorer Pursuit hot on the tail of the truck. But the suspect driver makes that cop chase in a literal circle, whipping around a gas station’s pumps before taking off with unexpected ferocity.
According to a Fox 56 report, the suspects did get away as police called off the chase, likely because of department pursuit policies. That didn’t prevent the fleeing U-Haul from crashing into another vehicle, proving that terminating chases doesn’t necessarily cause criminals to slow down and drive carefully.
What triggered the chase was a report of some disorderly people trying to return merchandise at a Home Depot. Reportedly, those products had been stolen from Home Depot earlier in the day, although it’s not clear if they were swiped from the same location. It wouldn’t surprise us if they were – criminals can be notoriously dumb.
When police showed up the suspects took off in the U-Haul. However, authorities used surveillance footage from Home Depot and the U-Haul rental location to identify the suspects as Joseph Palma and Shana Defilippis. They’re apparently still on the loose, but police know who they are, so perhaps it’s only a matter of time before they’re caught.
Image via Fox56 WOLF TV/YouTube
