Current:Home > ContactTradeEdge-'I am going to die': Video shows North Dakota teen crashing runaway car at 113 mph -BrightFuture Investments
TradeEdge-'I am going to die': Video shows North Dakota teen crashing runaway car at 113 mph
Johnathan Walker View
Date:2025-04-08 11:44:14
When a North Dakota teen lost control of his accelerating vehicle,TradeEdge 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.
Deputy ordered teen to crash on purpose
"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.
Driver convinced he was about to die
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.
veryGood! (87)
Related
- From family road trips to travel woes: Americans are navigating skyrocketing holiday costs
- Oldest living National Spelling Bee champion reflects on his win 70 years later
- Donald Trump's guilty verdict sent TV news into overdrive. Fox News' Jeanine Pirro lost it
- Clouds, high winds hamper efforts to rescue 2 climbers on North America’s tallest peak
- Nearly 400 USAID contract employees laid off in wake of Trump's 'stop work' order
- 13-year-old girl dies after drowning in pool at Discovery Cove in Orlando, Florida: Police
- Jax Taylor Addresses Dating Rumors After Being Spotted With Another Woman Amid Brittany Cartwright Split
- Boeing shows feds its plan to fix aircraft safety 4 months after midair blowout
- In ‘Nickel Boys,’ striving for a new way to see
- Reading the ‘tea leaves': TV networks vamp for time during the wait for the Donald Trump verdict
Ranking
- Could your smelly farts help science?
- Nurse fired for calling Gaza war genocide while accepting compassion award
- French security authorities foil a plan to attack soccer events during the 2024 Paris Olympics
- Lenny Kravitz opens up about celibacy, not being in a relationship: 'A spiritual thing'
- Taylor Swift makes surprise visit to Kansas City children’s hospital
- Video shows man with suspended license Zoom into Michigan court hearing while driving
- Trump Media shares recover after post conviction sell-off
- Bird flu reported in second Michigan farmworker, marking third human case in U.S.
Recommendation
House passes bill to add 66 new federal judgeships, but prospects murky after Biden veto threat
Ledecky says faith in Olympic anti-doping system at ‘all-time low’ after Chinese swimming case
With 'Babes,' Ilana Glazer wants to show the 'hilarious and insane' realities of pregnancy
Man tied to former North Dakota lawmaker sentenced to 40 years for child sexual abuse images
Bodycam footage shows high
McDonald's president hits back at claims Big Mac prices are too high amid inflation
Gypsy Rose Blanchard Gives Insight on Her Conversation With Kim Kardashian
Tennessee officers accused of shielding a man committing sex crimes. Police deny extortion