447 Miles And 16 Hours: The Cops In New Zealand May Have The Longest Recorded Car Chase
Cop car chases can sometimes make for excellent television. Will the suspect evade? Will the cops jump their cruiser at 100 mph? Will one of those massive Randy's Donuts break free from its building and come to aid of the constabulary? There are so many questions, and there are even more possibilities. But have you ever wondered what the longest-ever cop car chase is?
The answer is a simply mind-boggling 16 hours. That's right, 16 hours. You could fly from New York to Hong Kong in that time and still have minutes to spare. It's frankly beyond us how one person's mental and physical fortitude can last so long, because it's not as if they spent that time racing an M3 wagon around the Nürburgring.
In fact, this chase happened about as far away from Germany as you can get, quite literally, because it was over in New Zealand. The suspect covered 447 miles (720 kilometers) behind the wheel of a Subaru station wagon, hitting speeds of over 90 mph at some sections.
So, how did the chase play out?
Ironically, it is almost exactly 10 years to the day (October 14, 2016) since then 20-year-old Michael Massie decided to cause some mischief. We promise we aren't just writing this story as some sort of weird anniversary celebration or something.
The chase began at around 1 a.m. near Stoke, close to the northern tip of New Zealand's South Island, with the cops eventually abandoning their first pursuit due to safety concerns. From there, Massie barreled toward Christchurch on the east coast, where cops tried and failed once again to stop him, before continuing his way south.
A third attempt to stop Massie was made near Waikouaiti, with the cops even deploying spike strips to puncture his tires, and yet again, he managed to evade them. Massie then decided to dump his wagon nearby and flee on foot. Police eventually found the car hidden precariously between some pine trees, and he was apprehended soon after by the Five-O and a rather helpful canine.
How much jail time did he receive?
Massie pleaded guilty and received a grand total of 80 hours of community work. Yep, the gasps just keep on coming with this story, don't they? Considering a Florida woman got jail time for driving at 107 mph to get Little Caesars, it seems Massie was let off incredibly easy.
There's more to the story here, though. Shortly before the incident happened, Massie is said to have received some "concerning" news following an MRI scan, according to ODT News. On the day of the event itself, ODT also reports that he was heading to Invercargill – which does indeed align with the path he was taking — to consult a doctor about his test results.
Massie's lawyer, Andrew More, said his poor frame of mind is what likely contributed to the nature of his driving that day. Thankfully, nobody was hurt despite the chase lasting for so long — and we have it on good authority that no Randy's Donuts were involved, either.