00:05On a quiet night in Hitterdahl, an 18-year-old driver faced a nightmare on the road.
00:31It was September 17.
00:33An 18-year-old Sam Dutcher was driving his Honda Pilot near Fargo when, without warning, it started accelerating uncontrollably.
00:42Sam tried everything, hitting the brakes, pulling the e-brake, putting the car in neutral, but nothing worked.
00:50We're going to try and get up there a little bit for you, okay?
00:53So when you hit the neutral button, nothing happens?
00:58And when you hit, how do you, is it a push button?
01:02Push button start?
01:03Okay, can you just push the push button?
01:06Minnesota State Trooper Zach Groover was on duty when he heard the call.
01:10Sam's Honda Pilot was barreling down County Road 26, reaching speeds of 113 miles per hour with no way to
01:17stop it.
01:18Still there, Sam?
01:21It doesn't shut off? Okay.
01:23All right, well, we're going to try and get up there.
01:26I'm going to leave you on the phone while I'm driving, okay?
01:30Okay.
01:32One second.
01:38What caused it to start like that?
01:42Okay.
01:43Do you have any traffic in front of you?
01:44I don't have any traffic in front of you?
01:46I don't have any traffic in front of you?
01:46I don't have any traffic in front of you.
01:47I don't have any traffic in front of you.
01:48Okay.
01:49All right, we're trying to get up there, but we're going to get a little ways out, okay?
01:54All right.
01:55I'm just going to have you on mute here while I'm driving, all right?
02:00I've had them try and shift it to neutral driving.
02:04I've tried to also get the push button to stop it, but it's not allowing it to shift or turn
02:10it off.
02:12That's what he said.
02:13All right.
02:13I'm wondering if we can get him just in the e-brake and just lock it up.
02:17I know it's going to get hot, but we've at least got to get this thing stopped before
02:20it gets pretty due.
02:23Yeah, I agree.
02:24I'll see what I can do here.
02:28I'm going to let him know.
02:29I'm going to put six off and at least take the tires off.
02:33So that should slow him down and make sure he hits something else.
02:37Copy.
02:39All right, Sam is still there?
02:46We're going to put some stop sticks out in front of you so the tires get popped.
02:54So what I need you to do is when we get them out there, I want you to run them
02:57over on purpose,
02:58okay?
03:01We're going to try and get them at Highway 9, but I don't know if we're going to get there
03:04in that time.
03:08So when you hit the brakes, obviously nothing's happening.
03:12If you hit the brakes, nothing happens.
03:16Okay.
03:17What if you hit the brakes and hit that neutral button?
03:22Okay.
03:23All right.
03:26Okay.
03:27Well, I'm going to try and get some people in front of you to get those stop sticks, okay?
03:33But I'll let you know when we're out here.
03:33It will reach in the door.
03:47All right.
03:48Okay.
03:51All right.
03:54All right, good.
04:03All right.
04:04Going with them.
04:06Did it work?
04:08Almost, yeah.
04:09Yeah.
04:10That works.
04:11I'm going to be coming up right behind you.
04:14But 37, you can have them trying to hit that e-brake,
04:17and it won't do anything.
04:20All right, e-brake doesn't do anything.
04:22They said it slows them down in about 2 miles an hour,
04:24but that's it.
04:26And then, like I said, you can't change it.
04:31Go for it.
04:31All right, Sam, what I want you to do is I
04:33want you to let your car go into the back of that trooper's car,
04:36and he's going to hit the brakes.
04:37He's going to try and slow you down, OK?
04:40All right, we're going to have to do what happened.
04:56Hey!
05:02Central 724, 1066.
05:05I'm going for it.
05:05I'm trying to get them stopped.
05:07Due 9, I'm going to be pulling up next to you.
05:09I'll try to get in front of you to add a little extra brake power.
05:13I think the forward collision isn't letting them hit me.
05:16We're slowing down.
05:18Dead port.
05:24If, uh...
05:26Hold them, hold them.
05:31Car stop.
05:34Oh, fuck.
05:46Are we good?
05:50You got that 15, 15.
05:51We got 15, 15 to stop.
05:53We just keep the sensors, please.
05:5710-4, do you still need 600.
06:03I'll advise you for a region unknown.
06:0710-4.
06:25Oh that hit hard that was like it was slowing down slowing down and then it wasn't
06:36well that's yeah there was it was and that's I'm like there's a
06:54it's good thing we had a charger I don't know I mean he was doing 113 when I caught up
07:00to him
07:00he was yeah 114 and I'm like Sam was unharmed and no other drivers were injured during the incident
07:07Minnesota State Patrol Spokesperson Sergeant Jesse Grabo praised everyone involved
07:13highlighting how each step of the response prevented a potentially fatal crash Honda
07:19released a statement expressing relief that the situation ended safely they emphasized the
07:24importance of a detailed inspection of the vehicle and asked the family to reach out directly
07:29was caught on a dash camera near Fargo show the unforgettable minutes as a teenager's vehicle
07:35malfunctions and begins to accelerate out of control at one point that car topped out at 113
07:41miles per hour but then a quick thinking state trooper saved the day I had the initial thought
07:47that my kid was probably gonna die Sam on radar at 113 Sam was almost out of time as the
07:55Honda
07:55approached a fork in the road I wasn't gonna let him go off the T at 113 miles an hour
08:01I truly believe
08:04Sam would have died
08:06you
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