BIRMINGHAM, Mich. – A Farmington Hills man lost control of his car, fishtailed, struck a curb, went into the median and drove on a flat tire while trying to flee police in a car he had just purchased and didn’t yet know how to drive, authorities said.
A Birmingham officer saw a vehicle pull onto northbound Woodward Avenue at 8:07 p.m. May 14 from the service drive on the east side, officials said.
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Once the vehicle got onto Woodward Avenue, it accelerated aggressively and the driver lost control, according to police.
The officer activated his emergency lights and tried to initiate a traffic stop, authorities said. The vehicle did several fishtails, causing a lot of white smoke to come from the spinning tires, according to officials.
Police said the driver tried to correct the vehicle, but struck the curb of the median on the west side of northbound Woodward Avenue. It entered the median and came to rest near Taunton Road, officials said.
The officer said he believed the vehicle would remain stopped in the median, so he parked his motorcycle behind it and prepared to continue the traffic stop. But the vehicle started moving again and entered the southbound lanes of Woodward Avenue, according to authorities.
The officer pulled forward and turned around onto southbound Woodward Avenue to follow the vehicle, but he lost sight of it during the process, police said. He said he continued south and saw the vehicle’s tail lights at on Smith Avenue at Cummings Avenue.
Police said the officer lost sight of the vehicle again while driving on Smith Avenue, but several witnesses reported they had seen it and pointed him in the right direction.
He found the vehicle parked on Grant Avenue at Bird Avenue, authorities said. The 21-year-old Farmington Hills man who had been driving the vehicle was questioned about the incident, officials said.
He told the officer that he had just purchased the vehicle and didn’t know how to drive it, police said. He denied seeing the officer’s emergency lights and said he drove through the neighborhood because he didn’t want to stop and check the vehicle’s damage in Birmingham, according to authorities.
The vehicle’s front left tire was flat and the rim was dented from hitting the curb and driving afterward, police said.
The driver said he has an immigration status hearing in September 2022 and didn’t want anything on his record to negatively affect that hearing, the officer said.
Another witness arrived and told police that the driver had almost hit his vehicle while speeding through the neighborhood, authorities said.
Police took the 21-year-old Farmington Hills man into custody for fleeing and eluding.