Getaway cars are supposed to be fast. And they're supposed to be cars.
Those two facts apparently eluded a Florida man, who police say attempted to evade arrest by riding a slow-moving lawn mower on Wednesday.
Sheriff's deputies in Hillsborough County were searching a house for stolen property when they got a tip that one of the suspects, identified as Charles McDaniel, was trying to make his escape nearby, according to TampaBay.com.
Officers reportedly found McDaniel, 25, not far from his home attempting to flee on a ride-on mower.
Police cuffed McDaniel, who allegedly chucked a stolen .38-caliber pistol into a ditch on the side of the road before his arrest.
McDaniel has been charged with theft of a firearm, carrying a concealed firearm and being felon in possession of a firearm.
He should also be charged with poor planning, according to Bobby Cleveland, the man who holds the world record for reaching the fastest speed on a lawn mower.
Cleveland told AOL News that there are few escape vehicles slower than a store-bought mower.
You could get it to about 7 or 8 miles per hour -- max, said Cleveland, who last week shattered existing speed records when his souped-up mower reached 96.529 mph on Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats.
But getting a lawn mower to that kind of speed takes a great deal of work on the engine and transmission, not to mention a great deal of skill behind the wheel.
Store-bought grass-cutters just aren't built to be elusive, he said.
It's not an escape vehicle, he said. You're sitting up there too high, so there's nowhere to hide. And they're just a little too slow -- unless you're on my mower.
Even if McDaniel had managed to initially evade authorities on his mower, the vehicle could have left behind thousands of little clues that would have led police right to him, Cleveland said.
All the grass clippings would be a giveaway.
Story Link: http://www.aolnews.com/weird-news/a...uspect-tries-to-escape-on-lawn-mower/19656891
Those two facts apparently eluded a Florida man, who police say attempted to evade arrest by riding a slow-moving lawn mower on Wednesday.
Sheriff's deputies in Hillsborough County were searching a house for stolen property when they got a tip that one of the suspects, identified as Charles McDaniel, was trying to make his escape nearby, according to TampaBay.com.
Officers reportedly found McDaniel, 25, not far from his home attempting to flee on a ride-on mower.
Police cuffed McDaniel, who allegedly chucked a stolen .38-caliber pistol into a ditch on the side of the road before his arrest.
McDaniel has been charged with theft of a firearm, carrying a concealed firearm and being felon in possession of a firearm.
He should also be charged with poor planning, according to Bobby Cleveland, the man who holds the world record for reaching the fastest speed on a lawn mower.
Cleveland told AOL News that there are few escape vehicles slower than a store-bought mower.
You could get it to about 7 or 8 miles per hour -- max, said Cleveland, who last week shattered existing speed records when his souped-up mower reached 96.529 mph on Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats.
But getting a lawn mower to that kind of speed takes a great deal of work on the engine and transmission, not to mention a great deal of skill behind the wheel.
Store-bought grass-cutters just aren't built to be elusive, he said.
It's not an escape vehicle, he said. You're sitting up there too high, so there's nowhere to hide. And they're just a little too slow -- unless you're on my mower.
Even if McDaniel had managed to initially evade authorities on his mower, the vehicle could have left behind thousands of little clues that would have led police right to him, Cleveland said.
All the grass clippings would be a giveaway.
Story Link: http://www.aolnews.com/weird-news/a...uspect-tries-to-escape-on-lawn-mower/19656891
