Wild dashcam footage shows officers hitching a ride in the car of an Uber driver in Houston, Texas, leading to a frantic police pursuit.
The Uber driver, Anthony Baines, said that during a routine late-night drive, on his way to pick up a rider around 12:20 a.m., two police officers abruptly jumped into his vehicle and told him to help pursue a suspect on foot.
Dashcam footage shows a shirtless man racing across the street in front of Baines’ car, followed closely by two Houston Police Department officers. Baines said an officer flagged him down, causing him to halt, and then she got into the front passenger seat.
After the officer entered his vehicle, she can be heard encouraging him to “go, go, go, go” in the dashcam footage. “And the next thing I know, we’re chasing the guy,” Baines said in an interview.
But not before he first stopped to pick up the officer’s partner, who leaped into the rear seat. Then he drove around, following their instructions, as they searched for the man in northwest Houston.
It was like ‘an action movie’
Needless to say, Baines later said the incident took him “completely off guard,” but “just did what the officer asked in the moment.” He said his military background helped him to maintain his composure.
“I just kind of was able to relate it to an action movie where you see the good guy pursuing the criminal, and just running up to a random car, jumping in and literally saying, ‘Hey, go get that guy,’” Baines told Local 12 News. “So I just looked at it like, okay, this is my action movie moment.”
Bonus: Baines returned to his Uber route after the officers were done and the passenger he was on his way to pick up was still there.
“That person actually has the patience of a saint,” Baines said. “I just explained to him that, ‘Hey, look, I just had one of the most craziest situations ever. Please forgive me for being late.’”
He said they understood and still gave him a five-star rating for the ride.