Cops Find Pit Bull Behind Wheel of Crashed Car After Owner Allegedly Tried To Teach Dog To Drive

By Amanda Thomason April 1, 2020 at 3:28pm

Police officers get to see humanity in its extreme forms. They never know exactly what they’re going to find when they approach a vehicle they’ve pulled over, and they’ve probably heard every excuse in the book.

Drivers often make poor decisions, and one decision that has caused many problems is allowing a dog to have free run of the car.

Not only can this be dangerous for the human and anyone else around who might be hit by the distracted driver, it’s incredibly dangerous for the dog, too.

On Feb. 29, the Washington State Patrol posted a PSA about dogs and driving.

“In case you were wondering, distracted driving is not only distraction by phone or device,” it wrote on Facebook. “When your dog sits on your lap as you drive, blocking your view and causing you to impede traffic, you will most likely meet one of our Troopers.”

The picture used with the post showed a pup sitting in the passenger’s side seat. Little did the state troopers know that about a month later they’d pull over a car that had a dog perched on the driver’s seat.

It started with other drivers on the road noticing that one car was all over the road, reaching speeds of over 100 miles an hour and hitting two other vehicles.

“He was driving very erratically,” Trooper Heather Axtman of Washington State Patrol told CNN. “So erratically that multiple people called 911.”

As troopers started pursuing, the car left Interstate 5 and tore off onto Centennial Trail, a recreational path.

“The fact that there wasn’t anybody on the trail is nothing shy of miraculous,” Axtman said, according to CNN. “We are very thankful.”

Eventually, thanks to some spike strips, the troopers were able to stop the vehicle and approach it — only to find a female pit bull in the driver’s seat.

As if that wasn’t shocking enough, the owner — who was sitting in the passenger’s seat and claimed he’d been steering — said he was “trying to teach his dog how to drive.”

“I wish I could make this up,” Axtman said. “I’ve been a trooper for almost 12 years and wow, I’ve never heard this excuse. I’ve been in a lot of high-speed chases, I’ve stopped a lot of cars, and never have I gotten an excuse that they were teaching their dog how to drive.”

Needless to say, it was the man who was in trouble, not the dog. The unnamed 51-year-old was charged with hit-and-run, felony eluding, driving under the influence and reckless driving, according to KOMO-TV.

The dog was taken to the local shelter, and hopefully someone will give her a more suitable home where she’ll learn some more basic commands.

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