Leading police on a high-speed pursuit through a residential neighborhood is, by all accounts, not advised. They’re almost definitely going to catch up, and you put everyone around you at risk of injury or death if you decide to high-step away from Johnny Law—doubly so if you’re under the influence. One Jaguar XE driver found this out first-hand near Baton Rouge, Louisiana when they ran into a ditch, ejecting them out of the vehicle and unbelievably sending the car’s engine flying through the front door of a nearby apartment.
Engine 913 of the East Side Fire Department rushed to the scene after receiving a call from law enforcement, only to find what was left of the runaway Jag. The British sedan struck a series of trees before coming to a rest in the ditch, which is reportedly what sent the driver—and the four-cylinder—flying. Emergency services rushed the perp to hospital in critical condition.
It’s unclear if the driver was intoxicated or not at the time of the wreck. There’s also no word on how fast they were driving, although most of Old Hammond Highway, where the ordeal took place, has speed limits ranging from 25 miles per hour to 45 mph.
What’s more, the engine struck an individual who was standing in the apartment at the time of the crash. Their injuries went unannounced, although the East Side Fire Department explained in its Facebook post that they did not suffer life-threatening trauma.
This seems to be the inadvertent result of breakaway engine mounts, which typically drop the motor underneath the car in the event of an accident. In short, it keeps the heavy lump of metal from sailing through the windshield or firewall and crushing the vehicle’s occupants. In this case, however, the angle and force of the crash sent the power plant hurtling through the air, creating a 300-pound projectile.
Perhaps the most daunting of all the photos is one which shows the Jaguar’s air conditioning condenser laying on the apartment’s doormat, looking in at the engine which landed in the living room.
We’ve seen similar incidents in the past, most notably when a speeding Subaru WRX’s engine and transmission flew out of the car and into a neighbor’s yard on impact. No bystanders were injured in that crash, thankfully.
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