Suspects kiss before arrest after high-speed chase
Raw video: Couple share loving moment following high-speed chase in Arizona.
They sealed their fates with a kiss.
An alleged car-thieving couple led police on a wild, half-hour high speed pursuit outside of Phoenix Wednesday night that had its dramatic end captured on camera by a Fox 10 helicopter.
The chase began when cops identified an SUV on the Salt River reservation that had been reported stolen and tried to pull it over, but the driver refused to comply. Instead, he sped off and tried to get away by going off-road and the wrong way down some streets.
Perkins made one last attempt to escape into the desert. (KSAZ)
Units from multiple police departments soon joined the pursuit, which ended 30 miles later, when the vehicle smashed through the back fence of an industrial yard in Apache Junction, drove into the desert and crashed into a ditch.
But it didn't end well for him. (KSAZ)
That’s when the romantic drama began.
A man and a woman exited from either side of the car and took off on foot their separate ways, the spotlight from a police helicopter sticking tight to the driver.
Within a few moments, he stopped and was reunited under the light with his partner in crime. The two then hugged and apparently kissed before they laid down on the ground as police approached them on foot and arrested them.
They were both injured in the accident and taken to a nearby hospital. The man, Dustin Perkins, had a broken hand and told Fox 10, “I’m sorry, everybody. It was a really stupid thing,” as police escorted him out of the building on their way to the station for booking.
When asked if the woman, identified as Lovida Flores, was his wife, he said “she might as well be,” and said she’d injured her jaw in the accident. The Arizona Republic reported that Flores was in “serious condition.”
Perkins told police that he was trying to bring the truck to his father, who is suffering from cancer, but authorities are still investigating who the vehicle belongs to.
The pair face several charges, including unlawful flight and vehicle theft.