Sam Dutcher, 18, had just finished his errands when his Honda Pilot suddenly began to gain speed, despite the fact that he wasn’t pressing on the gas pedal.
To make matters worse, his brake wouldn’t work and he couldn’t shift the vehicle into neutral. Within seconds, the SUV was speeding along the countryside in western Minnesota with no way to stop.
According to Dutcher, he had pressed the brake with his foot all the way, but the vehicle continued to gain speed, eventually reaching a maximum of 120 mph (193 kpm).
Fortunately, disaster was averted when a trooper sped in front of the SUV. Dutcher was then told to crash the vehicle into its rear as that would allow it to stop before it reached a major intersection.
Zach Gruver, the trooper, said it was all [he] could think about it and that ‘there was no other way’ to stop the speeding vehicle.
Dutcher, a recent high school graduate, is currently studying auto mechanics and was heading to his parents’ house near West Fargo at approximately 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 17, when he noticed something was amiss.
Dutcher recalled taking his foot off the gas pedal but his SUV wouldn’t slow down. As it continued to go faster, he realized he had two options: either go onto the interstate or stay on a two-lane road, the latter of which would bring him into Minnesota.
He chose to stay on the two-lane road, hoping there would be less cars.
Dutcher tried calling 911 using the voice command on his phone, but it didn’t connect so he called his mom.
When his call came in, Catherine Dutcher was at the drive-thru at Hardee’s. As soon as she heard what was happening, she called 911. She told the dispatcher that her son’s SUV had recently been in the shop as the gas pedal was malfunctioning.
Authorities suspected that the vehicle’s computer had malfunctioned, causing the accelerator to get stuck.
A spokeswoman for Honda recommended that they take the SUV into a dealership for maintenance. They could not comment on the situation until the car has gone through an official inspection.
As the SUV accelerated into Minnesota, Clay County Deputy Officer Zach Johnson was able to reach the teen by phone. He talked to the teen through several solutions but unfortunately, nothing worked.
Meanwhile, there was nothing Catherine Dutcher could do except worry. She eventually called 911 for an update, during which she was told that several officers were headed toward his son, in addition to medical.
Gruver was also able to get ahead of the SUV and get ongoing cars off the road. Not long afterward, the Honda was seen zooming past at approximately 120 mph.
With a 4-intersection coming up again, law enforcement quickly came up with a plan – Dutcher would ram his car into the back of Gruver’s vehicle.
Fortunately, the crash was eased by the SUV’s crash mitigation system, which slowed the car down to 50mph when it struck the rear of the squad car.
