ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis police helicopter assisted with the arrests of two “reckless” driving suspects Thursday afternoon in a white Tesla vehicle, documenting the experience with videos on social media platform X.
The arrests follow a fly-along operation from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. Investigators have not disclosed the exact location of the arrests, though both appear to have happened in St. Louis City limits.
Around 1 p.m. Thursday, police first informed the public of a Tesla driver that the fly-along crew observed to be “driving reckless.” Police say that the vehicle took off from Mobile Reserve and SWAT officers on the ground. One video from the helicopter shows the driver weaving in between cars and briefly driving on the wrong side of a roadway.
SLMPD says the fly-along crew traveled at speeds up to 100 miles per hour to keep an eye on the suspects. Eventually, they bailed out of the vehicle. Authorities stopped one suspect near the scene of the Tesla, while another suspect was found a little further away from the scene.
“Air 2 kept eyes on the second suspect while officers on the ground got into position,” explained SLMPD via X.
Within minutes of reporting the arrests, the helicopter returned to its base for a refuel.
Police say the helicopter also assisted officers in apprehending a suspect during a foot chase near Natural Bridge Road earlier on Thursday.
