A van stops to help a constable on foot give chase

Police have a tough job no matter where they serve. That job gets considerably tougher when the person they're chasing can move much faster. This pursuit in the U.K. didn't begin with a roaring V8, flashing lights, or some impressive driving. There wasn't even an engine involved. An officer on foot was trying to catch a suspected thief who was fleeing from police on a bicycle, and he managed it thanks to a good Samaritan in a van, of all things.

According to Guildford Beat (Surrey Police), officers were on Woking Road in Guildford, England, when they spotted someone suspected of stealing from a nearby shop. The suspect took off on a bicycle — a regular one, not a 70-mph e-bike – leaving Police Constable Sperling to give chase on foot. 

Police shared bodycam video footage on November 4 showing the cyclist, dressed in gray, riding away as the officer follows. For a few moments, PC Sperling is close enough to get a good look at him, but that's a lot different than being able to keep up. As the gap began to grow, a good Samaritan stepped in with the hero of this story ... a van.

Pursuit

The police clearly had some fun putting this clip together. As the cyclist pulls away, a caption announces that he's getting away before the video cuts to a black screen. Anyone expecting that to be the end gets a quick correction: "Just kidding!"

That's where the van enters the picture. Its driver stops to offer Sperling a lift, and the officer climbs into the passenger side. The pair trundle off at the van's fastest pace, which, admittedly, isn't exactly quick. But it's quite a bit faster than any cyclist can manage, and these folks weren't exactly chasing down Lance Armstrong on performance-enhancing drugs.

From inside the cab, the footage shows the officer pointing as the pair continue along the road. Police say the driver and Sperling worked together to spot where the cyclist had gone and get ahead of him. Once in position, Sperling popped out of the van like part of the A-Team. Sperling's bodycam captures the moments when the officer gets ahead of the rider and tackles him to the ground. Police confirmed the arrest, thanked the van driver for their help, but didn't identify the rider.

Most of the time, a van is basically a box on wheels, and would be somewhere near the bottom of our list of vehicles to use in a police chase. In this rare instance, it was perfect for the job. After all, the person trying to get away was still relying on his own legs.