Police chased moped rider at 80 km/h on cycle path, Yle footage shows

Police pursued a 16 year old moped rider at speeds of up to 80 kilometres per hour on a narrow pedestrian and cycling path in the Lahti region in March, according to footage obtained by Yle.

The teenager, Max Muranen, had been riding a moped without a visible registration plate when police tried to stop him. The pursuit began in Lahti and ended less than 10 minutes later in Hollola, where Muranen fell in slush on a forest road. Police then caught him.

Yle has also learned of another similar case in Pirkkala from last spring. In both incidents, police first noticed that a moped lacked a registration plate and then began pursuing the rider.

Ari Järveläinen, a senior police inspector at the National Police Board, declined to comment on the individual cases. He said generally that the absence of a registration plate is grounds for stopping a vehicle, but not by any means necessary.

“The absence of a registration plate is not, in line with the principle of proportionality, the Ministry of the Interior’s regulation or the National Police Board’s instructions, a reason to use force to stop a vehicle,” Järveläinen said.

Police deny trying to cut off the moped

The pursuit took place on a Friday night in March. Muranen, who was 16 at the time, had been riding with friends and told his father by phone that he would be home within half an hour.

Police began following Muranen and another person travelling by moped. Muranen had covered the registration plate because the moped had secretly been modified to exceed the permitted limit. He said he decided to flee because he wanted to keep his moped licence for the coming riding season.

Police dashboard camera footage shows Muranen looking back after noticing the police and then accelerating.

“I panicked a little at first. Then I shifted into a higher gear and put the throttle all the way down,” Muranen said.

Police first tried to stop the moped by driving in front of it. When Muranen did not stop, the pursuit continued at high speed. The footage shows the police car following him not only on the road but also on narrow pedestrian and cycling paths at speeds of between 50 and 80 kilometres per hour.

Muranen says the police also tried to cut him off. The Häme Police Department denies this.

He was not injured in the crash. Muranen said he understood that he had acted wrongly but questioned the risks taken by police during the arrest.

He said he heard police announce: “Stop before you fall.”

“The police knew themselves that I would fall at some point. Why try to cut me off? Why not just follow behind and wait for me to fall?” Muranen said.

“You learn from something like that. It was stupidly done. It was the last time,” he said.

Parents describe shame and concern

Muranen’s father, Aarre Muranen, watched the footage in shock during the police questioning.

“There is a lot of shame and disappointment about the situation, but the police action does not look safe. They are following at high speed and trying to cut him off,” he said.

He also questioned whether the police response was proportionate to what the moped rider had done.

A video circulating in the media of events in Tuusula last Saturday reminded the Muranen family of their own experience with police in the spring.

Muranen’s mother began crying during the interview.