Poor choice of vehicles for a police-chase... Or was it?

[CountryBoy19]

Tractor eludes police for hours in crazy chase | WANE.com

This happened in my hometown in NE Indiana... facebook is plastered with videos... and if I've correctly identified the blurry video clip they showed, that clip was shot just over a mile from the house I grew up in (where my parents still live)... I also "know" the kid that did this ... he always was a bit odd, like maybe he had some mental problems... I haven't seen him in years but it appears he has continued down a poor path in life...

Is a tractor a good choice? It seems if you're judging on the total time he was able to continue fleeing I would say he did good.

 

[CHCRandy]

If they had wanted or needed to stop him....they would have much earlier. I think a tractor like that is a poor choice.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

Issues aside...

He's 20? Lordy.

Maybe he can work with the Amish raising barns/houses. Or pulling plows.

I do hope he can get the help he seems to need.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

"Control, start me a lasso unit."

 

[CountryBoy19]

If they had wanted or needed to stop him....they would have much earlier. I think a tractor like that is a poor choice.

Stop him easier than a car? In what manner? The only realistic option I see is #1 incapacitate the driver (in which case you now have a runaway tractor that nobody is controlling) or #2 do similar to a pit maneuver but i doubt a car is going to do that, they need a bigger vehicle to do that to a tractor, in which case you risk crash/rollover and possibly still a runaway tractor with nobody in control... maybe I'm missing something...

How would you suggest they stop a guy on a tractor?

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

A .50 BMG into the engine block!

From a moving platform into a moving platform. In a very flat area with houses & livestock everwhere.

What could go wrong?

 

[pudly]

Sounds like a job for a Goshen MRAP!

 

[SmileDocHill]

I bet he was plowed. Did he discus what he was thinking with the cops? Even though it was just a tractor they'll still combine charges.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

Sounds like a job for a Goshen MRAP!

That'd take way too long for the mule team to pull it down to Decatur.

Adams Co. just has an up-armored hay wagon + some haflinger draft horses.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

I bet he was plowed. Did he discus what he was thinking with the cops? Even though it was just a tractor they'll still combine charges.

Yeah, he'll reap what he sowed.

 

[chocktaw2]

Stop him easier than a car? In what manner? The only realistic option I see is #1 incapacitate the driver (in which case you now have a runaway tractor that nobody is controlling) or #2 do similar to a pit maneuver but i doubt a car is going to do that, they need a bigger vehicle to do that to a tractor, in which case you risk crash/rollover and possibly still a runaway tractor with nobody in control... maybe I'm missing something...

How would you suggest they stop a guy on a tractor?

Shoot a hole in the oil pan!

 

[chocktaw2]

I bet he was plowed. Did he discus what he was thinking with the cops? Even though it was just a tractor they'll still combine charges.

He is Autistic.

 

[CHCRandy]

Stop him easier than a car? In what manner? The only realistic option I see is #1 incapacitate the driver (in which case you now have a runaway tractor that nobody is controlling) or #2 do similar to a pit maneuver but i doubt a car is going to do that, they need a bigger vehicle to do that to a tractor, in which case you risk crash/rollover and possibly still a runaway tractor with nobody in control... maybe I'm missing something...

How would you suggest they stop a guy on a tractor?

A bullet between the eyes.......I guarantee you he stops! If this guy was heading towards a school or store or anywhere near civilians.....don't think for a minute they couldnt have killed him. Marvin Heemeyer had the unstoppable machine.

 

[chocktaw2]

He is Autistic.

For the record, if my son had this disorder, he would be a passenger only, no driving.

 

[hoosierdoc]

Yeah, he'll reap what he sowed

Not if the prosecutor is on the till

 

[CountryBoy19]

Shoot a hole in the oil pan!

Good luck getting the hole right in the very bottom so the oil drains down lower than the oil-pump intake... engines can run a LONG time as long as they have at least a little oil-flow...

A bullet between the eyes.......I guarantee you he stops! If this guy was heading towards a school or store or anywhere near civilians.....don't think for a minute they couldnt have killed him. Marvin Heemeyer had the unstoppable machine.

Haven't driven tractors much have you? Tractors don't just stop because the operator is incapacitated (as I alluded to in my earlier post). They are like a stick-shift vehicle; they keep going until somebody pushes the clutch to stop them. You shoot the driver and you now have an uncontrolled tractor driving around. An uncontrolled tractor can do some MAJOR damage because of the added weight and torque at the wheels, it's not like a stick-shift pickup truck. Marvin Heemeyer was in a bull-dozer, which requires user input to go and they stop on their own if there is a lack of continued user input. Tractors require user input to go AND to stop. Also, Marvin Heemeyer went for a LONG time and only stopped when his dozer became entrapped and then he shot himself. Comparing this to that is like comparing Apples to Oranges...

I still say this guy was relatively unstoppable without risking injury or major property damage to himself, 1st responders, and innocent bystanders.

 

[TheEngineer]

They are talking about this story on Bob and Tom right now

 

[steveh_131]

I bet he was plowed. Did he discus what he was thinking with the cops? Even though it was just a tractor they'll still combine charges.

I C what U did there

 

[Slawburger]

He must have put it in Rabbit mode. If he was in Turtle they would have caught him by walking.