We’ve seen the Grappler Bumper in action plenty of times now, but never before have we seen one rip the rear axle off a car. But that’s exactly what happened during a police chase in the Detroit metropolitan area. Thankfully, there’s a photo of the aftermath or we wouldn’t really believe it.
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The Grappler Bumper has been portrayed as a gentle, safe way to end police chases. However, we’ve covered at least one incident where the device, which uses webbing that wraps around one of the rear tires, seemingly caused the fleeing vehicle to crash.
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We’ve also covered police using the Grappler on the wrong car, causing thousands in damage.
But in this case it seems the fleeing suspect was so determined to get away, he kept driving hard even after the Grappler was attached. According to WXYZ, police in Livonia spotted the vehicle, which was reported stolen out of Dearborn on the afternoon of August 27.
Instead of the suspect car pulling over, it fled down Interstate 96. That’s when an officer used his Grappler Bumper. Rather than just give up, like in every case we’ve seen, the suspect tried escaping the device, which reportedly sparked a small car fire.
Also, it yanked the rear axle clean off the chassis.
Nobody was injured in the incident. Not only was the 27-year-old driver arrested, so were the two female passengers because both had warrants.
We can tell from the photo the vehicle is a Chevy and is a front-wheel-drive model. That narrows things down some. We can also see the Grappler webbing was no longer wrapped around the rear tire but instead was wrapped around the rear axle.
Exactly what happened to the car after the rear axle was ripped out from under it wasn’t mentioned, so we’re assuming that ended the chase.
We also wonder what the reaction of the car owner was once police told him what happened. It’s probably been totaled.
Image via Michigan State Police
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