Joseph Cooper called 911 Monday to say the gas pedal to his BMW was stuck.
Police in Florida had to take dramatic action to stop a runaway SUV after the driver called 911 to say his gas pedal was stuck.
"I think my gas pedal is stuck to my car," 28-year-old driver Joseph Cooper told 911 dispatchers on Monday.
The dispatchers offered solutions, like hitting the brakes, but Cooper feared that might put him in danger.
"Have you tried the emergency break?" the operator asked.
"Yeah, ma’am, I’m not pulling that at 100 mph. I’m sorry," came Cooper's polite reply.
According WPEC, Fellsome PD Sgt. Scott Newsom posted ahead of where Cooper was on I-95 and waited for his cue to throw stop sticks in front of the black SUV.
"Stop sticks are hollow needles and they puncture the tire and stay in the tire that lets the air out of the tire slowly so the car can come to a stop safely," said Sgt. Newsom.
The sticks successfully slowed the vehicle down, though it took three attempts with the strips to deflate all four tires.
With the vehicle running on its rims, officers were able to pull a PIT maneuver to finally bring the incident to an end.
The vehicle was towed away and Cooper was taken to a hospital to be assessed for injuries.
Experts say that, should you ever get into a similar situation with your gas pedal stuck, call 911 and try to put your car in neutral, put on your brakes or try to shut the car off.
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