Brake-checking, or slamming on a vehicle’s brakes while traveling ahead of another motorist, has no place on our roads. It’s especially heinous, however, when a police officer does it to a member of the public. In this case, a Florida cop in an unmarked police car brake-checked a motorcycle rider so hard, he caused the biker to crash. 

A helmet cam caught the moment an unmarked police car brake-checked a motorcycle rider and sent him crashing

YouTuber “Hyped Life” was riding his 2020 Yamaha R3 on a Florida highway when he spotted what he thought was a police car. He was confused, however, due to the lack of markings. It was a late-model Dodge Charger, a popular choice for police vehicles in the United States. Rather than the tell-tale black-and-gold livery of the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), the Charger wore an understated shade of gray.

“Nah, there’s no way that’s a cop,” the YouTuber said into his helmet camera. The YouTuber contemplates an overtake. Little did he know it was, in fact, an unmarked FHP police car. Hyped Life follows the unmarked car for a while before the Charger taps its brakes. The motorcyclist reacts in time, slowing a bit as well. “Whoa, what are you doing, bro?” the rider said. 

A moment later, the YouTuber was close enough to clock the cop car. “Oh, maybe it is,” he surmised. A moment later, the police officer turned on his emergency lights as if to pull the bike over. But, immediately after throwing the lights on, the officer stomps down hard on the brakes, shedding every bit of the sedan’s speed. The officer, John Vincent Greisheimer, had brake-checked the biker.

With very little time to stop and not enough distance to bring the Yamaha to a standstill, Hyped Life crashed into the lane-straddling unmarked police car. To add insult to literal injury, the officer says the most ridiculous thing as he approached the wrecked motorcycle.“Stop tailgating me!” he yelled loud enough for the helmet cam to capture it. You can’t make this stuff up.

Greisheimer was in the academy in 2014, meaning he was around eight years into his service with the FHP when he brake-checked the motorcyclist. Speeding or not. Tailgating or not. Brake-checking is a rash action of road rage, not an acceptable means to slow a motorcyclist for speeding. 

Understandably, the YouTuber, who didn’t want his name out there, took things to court. He filed a lawsuit against the FHP. “It was just traumatizing,” Hyped Life said in a follow-up video on the subject of the wreck. “I feel uncomfortable around police now.” You can check out a short video of the crash below!