A suspected car thief led San Joaquin County sheriff’s deputies on a high-speed pursuit over the weekend, only to be thrown from the vehicle when it crashed into a pole with such force it tore the car in half.
Yet somehow — thanks to some crazy stroke of luck, perhaps — the driver managed to avoid being seriously injured.
The Sheriff’s Office said in a social media post that the incident unfolded Sunday in Manteca after deputies identified the car as stolen and signaled the driver to pull over at Main Street and Industrial Drive. The man behind the wheel refused, and a pursuit began.
The suspected car thief, whose name has not been released, sped through rural areas with deputies trailing. To keep the suspect from trying to find his way back into the city, a sheriff’s sergeant had spike strips deployed on a key road leading into more populated areas. The driver apparently spotted the strips, swerved the vehicle to miss them and lost control, authorities said.
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That’s when the man was ejected from the car as it slammed into a utility pole.
Photos taken at the scene show the impact sliced the four-door sedan in two. The driver somehow survived, sheriff’s officials said.
“Remarkably, he was found alert and conscious at the scene. The suspect was transported to a local hospital for medical evaluation and is expected to face numerous charges upon his release,” deputies said.
“Fortunately, the suspect in this case was lucky to escape without injury.”