Reddit | megachainguns

Suspect Escapes After Police Tesla Runs Low On Battery During High Speed Chase

Updated August 16, 2021

Whenever we have technical issues, we often find that they happen at the exact moment when we need our tech the most.

Windows seems to love updating right before you're about to give an important presentation, Skype will probably glitch out right in the middle of a job interview, and the programs that worked just fine when you tested them are suddenly riddled with errors when you actually use them.

And while it may not necessarily be comforting to learn that it's just as possible for the police to experience this same phenomenon during their tensest moments, it definitely makes the likely frustration a lot easier to understand.

Last year, police in Fremont, California started a pilot project where they would test the viability of electric vehicles for official duties.

Reddit | nutwhole

As The East Bay Times reported, this involved purchasing a 2014 Tesla Model S for the department for about $61,000 and eventually rolling it out this March after a year of modifying it for police use.

Using this vehicle, Officer Jesse Hartman pursued a suspect on Friday night in a chase that reached top speeds of 120 miles per hour.

Reddit | megachainguns

However, Hartman noticed that the Tesla had dipped to critically low battery levels midway through this pursuit.

As he told dispatch, "I am down to six miles of battery on the Tesla so I may lose it here in a sec. If someone else is able, can they maneuver into the number one spot?"

Other officers resumed the chase after Hartman pulled away to find a charging station, but the chase was called off shortly after.

This was because the suspect had started driving on the highway's shoulder into increasingly dense traffic and police assessed that it would be unsafe to continue the pursuit in light of this fact.

The suspect's car was later found crashed in some bushes close to where police last spotted it.

Reddit | RaptorsOnBikes

The car had been designated a "felony vehicle" after a warrant associated with it was issued by the Santa Clara Police Department.

The driver was not in the car and remains at large.

Despite the unfortunate timing of the battery issue, Fremont police maintain that results from the pilot project have been encouraging thus far.

Reddit | travelooye

As Captain Sean Washington told The East Bay Times, the car can normally get through an 11-hour shift with 40-50% of battery life remaining.

In this case, however, the battery had not been charged the night before Hartman got into it.

h/t: The Beast Bay Times

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