After 45 miles, this Smokey caught the Bandit.
KARK reported that a big rig in Pope County, Arkansas eluded police for 45 miles on I-40. The chase started after the trucker almost hit a state trooper’s patrol car while trying to pull over another vehicle. When the trooper attempted to stop the semi, the trucker kept driving and refused to pull over.
Eventually, Arkansas State Police used spike strips on I-40 to pop the big rig’s tires in an effort to make it stop. The spikes worked, damaging the 18-wheeler’s front tires, but the driver kept on trucking.
A witness of the wild chase shared video of the scene with KARK. In the footage, you can see police deploy the spike strip. “I was afraid to stop because I knew he had no tires, so I was afraid he would end up hitting us, so I stayed a good ways ahead of them to where I knew I was out of danger,” Shaddon told KARK.
Finally, after a 45 mile chase, the semi stopped but the trucker refused to exit the cab. Police were eventually able to remove and arrest him. The trucker was then identified as Birotte Charamant, a 44-year-old driver from Florida.
Charamant’s bond hearing is on July 7.
See the witness’s footage in KARK’s coverage below:
