A New Zealand man led police on a low-speed chase with his mobility scooter on Wednesday after he was caught driving down a walking path at a dangerous speed.
Instead of stopping, Charlie Durham — who previously had both of his legs amputated — dodged the red police car’s numerous attempts to cut him off and slow him down, in a chase captured on video by a woman who followed the action in her car.
The woman and her young passenger spotted the chase as they were driving through the small town of Timaru.
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“Go old man, go!” the driver yelled through her laughs.
At one point, the 60-year-old Durham can be seen zooming across traffic to dodge the officers.
“This is so funny. He’s going for it. What is this old man up to? We’ve got to go follow,” the videographer, Aleshia Candy, can be heard saying. “He’s going to get in so much trouble.”
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Eventually, police officers can be seen getting out of their car after a final attempt to cut him off, presumably ready to pursue the 60-year-old on foot.
New Zealand police released a statement about the incident, which read: “The rider refused to stop and actively avoided the police patrol car. This continued for a period of time with the officer trying to stop the rider multiple times, and the scooter rider actively avoiding the officer’s attempts to stop him.”
Durham was fined a total of CA$211 for operating a mobility scooter “inconsiderately” and failing to stop for an officer, according to The Guardian.
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The man told TVNZ that he thought the police car was an ice cream truck trying to sell him a frozen dessert. He wasn’t interested.
Durham was also apparently concerned about missing his tea time that evening.
“I thought he was causing himself more harm and other people on the road than what he was to me,” Durham said of the cops chasing him.
“There’s all sorts of things the police could be doing rather than chasing me.”
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