Holly MatkinFairfax County, VA – Dashcam footage captured the terrifying moment when a 17-year-old boy flying down the road in a BMW at speeds topping 120 mph nearly killed a Fairfax County police officer as he was conducting a traffic stop earlier this month (video below).
The collision occurred on Fairfax County Parkway southbound near Braddock Road at approximately 11:40 a.m. on May 1, WRC reported.
Dashcam footage showed a Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD) officer speaking with the driver of a gray car through the passenger side window on the side of the roadway when the sound of screeching tires caught his attention.
The officer quickly looked towards the sound and saw a black vehicle careening out of control in the northbound lanes, then spinning through the grass median.
The officer immediately ran back towards his patrol vehicle just as the car slammed into the gray sedan, the video showed.
He narrowly escaped being crushed between the sedan and the guardrail, both of which were left mangled as a result of the wreck.
The black BMW clipped the officer’s right leg and subsequently crashed into his patrol car before coming to rest off-camera, WRC reported.
The officer was knocked to the ground during the incident, but managed to quickly scramble to his feet to return to check on the occupants of the gray sedan, the video showed.
“Start me rescue,” he radioed. “Start me units. Accident right here at County Parkway south after Braddock.”
“My cruiser was hit. Driver was hit,” he added. “I’m trying to check on injuries.”
The officer and the driver of the vehicle he had pulled over were both transported to the hospital with minor injuries, WRC reported.
Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said the 17-year-old boy behind the wheel of the black car was traveling “well over 120 miles per hour” prior to the collision.
The speed limit on that section of the road is just 50 miles per hour, according to the Burke Patch.
“It was going way too fast,” Chief Davis told WRC. “It was a rocket and then it became a missile.”
The chief said it was a miracle the officer, a 13-year department veteran, wasn’t killed or severely injured, the Burke Patch reported.
“He made a decision to move and he moved. And he moved in the right place at the right time for that split-second moment,” Chief Davis said. “And even his recovery from that horrific collision was to immediately do a two-step over the guardrail and get right on his radio and calmly describe what had happened. Not a lot of people can pull that off.”
The teen and his two passengers all suffered minor injuries in the wreck.
Despite the severity of what occurred, the suspect was only ticketed for misdemeanor reckless driving, WRC reported.
“The Fairfax County Police Department is relieved that this crash did not result in a tragedy,” the FCPD said in a statement to WTTG. “This is an important reminder that life can change in an instant.”
Watch the incident unfold in the video below. Warning – Graphic Content:
🚨#WATCH: Heart-Stopping Dash-Cam Footage Captured a 17 year old driving over 120mph loses control, nearly killing a officer
⁰📌#Fairfax | #Virginia⁰⁰Watch as Heart-stopping police dash-camera footage shows when a 17 year old Teen driving BMW M3 going over 120mph in the… pic.twitter.com/s6Y5Ki5qKS— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) May 2, 2023
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