TJ Hooker and other 1980s cop shows led many of us to believe that about 75 percent of police work involved hanging on to rapidly moving cars. Apparently that’s not exactly the case in reality. Except sometimes it is, as in this incident of a Florida cop who was sent to check out a possible overdose.
Officer Jon Cusack (no relation to this guy, as far as we can tell) went to check on Pembroke Pines resident Thomas Cabrera, who, along with a passenger, appeared to be unresponsive in their car. When Officer Cusack approached the car, Cabrera awoke, and, after Cusack asks for his ID, rolls up the window and takes off driving.
Officer Cusack gets the door open and hangs on as Cabrera accelerates, clinging to the car for about half a mile. Here, watch:
Daaamn. That driver sure looked strangely calm for having an agitated cop hanging off his car.
After Officer Cusack let go and tumbled onto the shoulder, Cabrera kept driving, leading police on a chase with speeds up to 100 mph.
Eventually, it was mundane morning traffic on I-595 that did Cabrera in, as he got stuck in traffic and was apprehended by police. He’s been charged with attempted murder of a law enforcement officer.
Officer Cusack was hospitalized for road rash all over his body, and his shoes had their soles completely burned off, and are presumably being tended to by an emergency cobbler. Cusack is expected to make a full recovery.