Kentucky Man Hung Beneath Bridge For Hours To Evade Police During Car Chase
Joshua Baker chose to flee from police and landed himself between a rock and a hard place. His solution? Hang beneath a bridge for hours, forcing police to stop traffic and wait for his surrender. He’s now been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
This might be the most follhardy police chase stunt on a bridge since a stolen Audi Q5 jumped a drawbridge.
Kentucky burglary suspect tries to flee to Ohio, then things go sideways
Last year, police tried to pull Baker over for suspected burglary. But he had multiple warrants out and wasn’t stopping. The Kentucky man was driving northbound on 71/75, headed for the Ohio River and Cincinnati beyond. But when he turned onto the Brent Spence Bridge over the river, he crashed into two other cars.
Baker abandoned his injured female passenger and attempted to carjack one of the damaged vehicles. When that failed, he fled on foot. The police navigated around the crash and chased him in cruisers. They would stop their cars, get out, and draw their weapons, only to have Baker flee further along the bridge. He must have realized he would run out of bridge eventually, because he climbed over the side.
Police used rescue boats to search for Baker from below. They even sent down drones to find him. But he’d wedged himself into the support beams and was hiding. Seconds turned to minutes, which turned to hours. It was 8 p.m. before the police finally took him into custody.
Baker “climbed over the side of the bridge and hid in the support beams underneath for hours.” — Covington PD
Kenton County Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Sanders said, “As far as I’m concerned, the police did a hell of a job…They took a very dangerous individual off the streets. He’s a suspect in a very dangerous crime. He’s someone that we’ve been dealing with for the past 20 years or so.”
His past charges ranged from drug dealing to theft. He was wanted on existing warrants, and his new charges included two new counts of fleeing and single counts of carjacking, wanton endangerment, criminal mischief, and driving on a suspended license. The judge set his bail at $100,000. In September, Baker pleaded guilty. In February 2026, the 38-year-old man was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
You can see the original security camera footage of Baker climbing off the bridge embedded below:
