When a band chooses to shoot a music clip in downtown Los Angeles, there’s always a chance that real life will be more outrageous than any director’s video treatment. Such was the case when British band Muse and some of their fans found themselves involved in a dramatic police chase that ended with a car crash and illicit drugs littering the streets.
According to CBS Local, a bicycle cop attempted to pull over a Land Rover Discovery when the driver attempted to run him over with the vehicle while fleeing the scene. Once a motorcycle cop picked up the pursuit as the suspect careened the wrong way down a one-way street, the Land Rover smashed into a pair of vehicles near a crowd of people that had gathered nearby to watch Muse filming a music video.
“It was pretty exciting,” said bystander Kevin Silva. “I’ve never actually seen something like that.”
The scene was made even more chaotic when the fleeing suspect tossed drugs and money from the window of the Land Rover en route to the crash. LAPD officer Karen Rayner said that before police could retrieve the contraband and cash, local residents of the area (known as Greater Skid Row) had made off with the abandoned evidence. The cops found more drugs and cash inside the vehicle.
The suspect, described as in his 20s, was taken into custody, and a person in one of the cars he hit complained of pain, but did not go to the hospital.
For complete details and a video report, go to CBS Local.
Muse will soon return to their native England, where they are scheduled to perform the closing ceremony of the Summer Olympics on August 15. The band’s song, “Survival” (from their upcoming sixth studio release, The 2nd Law, due September 17) was chosen as the official track of this summer’s Games.
–Scott T. Sterling, CBS Local
