Police officers assigned to an extended security detail in the Caribbean province of Limon over the weekend arrested one of their own after a spectacular car chase that left three patrol cars damaged. Witnesses of the incident, which took place in Guápiles, explained that the events unfolded in a way reminiscent of a film directed by Michael Bay.

 

It all started on a Saturday afternoon as members of Fuerza Pública (the national police force of Costa Rica) were conducting an extended security operation in support of Expo Pococi, a major agricultural fair in the Caribbean region. A tip about a possible drug shipment being transported from a “bunker” (Costa Rican slang for a stash house or retail point-of-sale location for street-level drug dealing) prompted officers to set up a roadblock to intercept the reported vehicle.

 

Instead of slowing down at the checkpoint set near the Polideportivo (multipurpose sports complex) in Guápiles, the suspect burned rubber and kept going in the direction of Toro Amarillo (Yellow Bull). As the officers engaged in hot pursuit, they noticed that the driver of the Toyota Yaris, which had been relieved of its license plate, was skilled in evasive maneuvers such as power sliding, touch braking and oversteering. The suspect sideswiped three police cars and managed to avoid crashing into traffic with the exception of one vehicle that he bumped while trying to run one of the patrol cars off the road.

 

At some point, the suspect abandoned the battered Yaris and attempted to flee on foot. He was eventually taken down in the middle of a forest patch. There was a strong scent of liquor coming from the suspect, and thus Transit Police officers were called in to conduct a breath test and a DUI investigation. As the Fuerza Publica officers searched the vehicle, they did not find any drugs; however, when they frisked the suspect they found a single marijuana cigarette and a police badge. It so happened that the suspect is a member of Fuerza Publica assigned to patrol car duty in Barra del Colorado, which explains his driving skills.

 

The suspect was taken into custody in Pococí, where he waited for prosecutors and Fuerza Publica internal affairs investigators to arrive.