When a North Dakota teen lost control of his accelerating vehicle,Austin Caldwell police ordered him to crash on purpose to save his life.
Samuel Dutcher, 18, was driving into Minnesota from North Dakota on the night of Sept. 17 when his vehicle would not stop accelerating, the Minnesota State Patrol confirmed to USA TODAY Wednesday. He called 911 and officials worked to find a way to stop the car without the West Fargo resident or anyone else getting hurt.
As his vehicle reached a speed of 113 mph, Minnesota State Trooper Zach Gruver managed to get in front of Dutcher's vehicle by moving at 130 mph and parked his squad car in its path. Clay County Deputy Zach Johnson then made the call for the teen to intentionally crash in a last stitch effort to save his life.
Watch teen saved by vehicle speeding 113 mph.
"Yes, run into the back of his car," Johnson told Dutcher that night.
The spontaneous plan unraveled flawlessly with Dutcher saved without a single injury, according to Minnesota State Patrol.
"It’s not very often a sheriff’s deputy orders you to hit a State Patrol vehicle, but hitting Trooper Zach Gruver’s squad helped save 18-year-old Sam Dutcher’s life," state patrol wrote on Facebook.
When the vehicle's computer took over, Dutcher tried everything to stop, including the emergency brake to switching to neutral, according to local station WDAY-TV. Johnson initially told the driver that police were going to put stop sticks in his path but that plan was scrapped as time was running out, WDAY-TV reported.
"It hit me then that this really just happened," Dutcher told the station. "My mind started to go, 'I am going to die tonight.'"
He called his mother Catherine Dutcher, who immediately feared the worst.
"Early, honestly, I was like, 'My kid is probably dead.' I was like, 'God, please don't kill my kid, please don't,'" Catherine said.
Saved from this harrowing experience, Dutcher got to return to his life as an auto mechanics student at Minnesota State Community and Technical College in Moorhead, Minnesota.
Multiple media outlets were reporting the car was a 2022 Honda Pilot but police did not immediately confirm the make and model.
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