Minneapolis, Minnesota woke to a confusing sight Tuesday morning. A stolen Kia SUV was doing donuts downtown. The white compact shut down a street of traffic as it skidded 180 degrees, raced down the street, spun around, and did it all again. Minneapolis PD officers watched the mayhem from the safety of a nearby squad car.

The Kia driver taunted the police, pulling directly in front of the squad car before peeling out again. The officers didn’t even flinch.

Minneapolis police watch stolen Kia driver’s stunts

Rideshare driver Travis Joseph told his passengers, “There’s the Kia Boys.” The nickname refers to a social media trend to nab easy-to-steal Kia and Hyundai cars, then film stunts such as street takeovers in the stolen vehicles. Joseph said of his now-viral dashcam footage: “What was shocking, it was so early in the morning. I had a Lyft passenger in my car.” But the most shocking part? “The cops were sitting there and they didn’t move a muscle.”

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara was not surprised. He insists, “The cops did their job.” In fact, he explains that chasing the stolen Kia wasn’t even an option for his officers. “They had zero discretion in that case.”

Minneapolis police chief discusses stolen Kia

Speaking with Minneapolis’ Channel 5 News, O’Hara said of the viral dashcam footage: “That is authentic.” He stood by his officers, but didn’t love the situation. “Unfortunately, that’s nothing new.”

He broke down the department’s policy: “If it’s simply a stolen car and there are no other crimes, there’s no firearms involved and no threats of violence—if an individual is trying to just bait the officer into a pursuit—it’s not going to get safer once the cops start chasing them.”

A high-speed pursuit in downtown Minneapolis could injure the thieves, officers, and even innocent bystanders. Similar tragedies occur often, all over the country. “It is just not worth the risk of endangering everyone’s lives.”

O’Hara admits it is harder when thieves attempt to bait police into a chase. “Whether they felt frustrated by it or not, the cops did their job.”

O’Hara called another policy “completely senseless”

The chief added that the aftermath of a successful police chase isn’t always ideal. “The end result—even if no one’s hurt—we arrest a couple juveniles, we bring them downtown and they’re immediately released.”

He is not happy with this catch-and-release pattern: “It is completely senseless.” Watch the dashcam footage and latest coverage in the Channel 5 video embedded below: