Isaiah John Gellatly was the unhappiest man in Happy Valley, Oregon, when his attempt at stealing a run of the mill Honda Accord ended with jail time and a broken leg after he was run over by that same Accord.
Yes, that is what actually happened on Monday night in a quiet Oregon neighborhood that was suddenly turned on its head by a police pursuit. While injuries coming as a result of a police pursuit aren't something that's unheard of, the way this particular guy got his is what makes the story fit perfectly in a Leslie Nielsen movie.
Not to self: don't jump out of a moving car then cross paths with it
Earlier this week, police answered to a call about a theft in progress in Happy Valley, Oregon. The officers that arrived at the scene surprised Gellatly while he was sitting in a 1998 Honda Accord that he'd broken into.
The police pursuit that followed is everything you remember from pursuit reels from the '90s: Gellatly "repeatedly blew through stop signs and crossed over into the opposing lane of traffic during the high-speed pursuit," according to a statement released by the police department. He also had trouble keeping the car on the road, clattering over the sidewalk and other elements of the urban scenery.
"Gellatly then attempted to cut in front of his vehicle around the same time it crashed into a tree and building wall," the same statement reads. How is that possible? Well, faced with what seems like a dead end, the 31-year-old suspect decided to continue on foot. He jumped out of his car but omitted to stop it before doing so. Then he thought that the best route he should follow would be the one that would intersect with the Accord's path.
Further reading
Read our full review on the 2018 Honda Accord.