‘Go, go!’: Texas man was midway through a regular Uber ride near midnight, and it turned into him chasing a fleeing suspect with two cops in his car

According to Fox News, a Houston Uber driver said he was in the middle of a regular late-night ride when two police officers suddenly jumped into his car and directed him to help chase a suspect on foot. Anthony Baines stated the incident took place around 12:20 a.m. on Aug. 8 in a Houston Heights neighborhood.

Dashcam video shows a shirtless man running across the street in front of Baines’ vehicle with two Houston Police Department officers close behind, according to Storyful. Baines said an officer waved him down, and he stopped as she approached and climbed into the front passenger seat.

The officer can be heard saying, “Hey, give me a ride over there please,” followed by “Go, go that way … go, go, go, go, go!” Baines asked which way to drive as the officers pointed him toward the suspect.

Officers briefly ride with Uber driver during nighttime foot pursuit

After driving a short distance, the first officer signaled for her partner, who was carrying a flashlight, to get in as well. She opened the car door, and the second officer jumped into the back seat, the dashcam video shows.

The two officers rode with Baines for several minutes while they searched the area. One of them then appeared to spot the suspect, and both officers jumped out of the Uber to continue the chase on foot.

Baines can be heard saying, “What the f–k?!” as the officers left his car. He later told Storyful, “It caught me completely off guard. I’ve never had anything like that happen driving. I was surprised but just did what the officer asked in the moment.” Other drivers have also described unexpected Uber ride problems.

Houston police confirmed the authenticity of the video and the incident to KPRC 2. Officers had been responding to a terroristic threat call involving allegations that the suspect threatened to shoot a woman and her children after becoming upset over a belief that someone had stolen from him, the station reported.

Police said officers tried to detain the man as he left an apartment, but he refused to cooperate and ran away. An officer asked the driver to take them around the block to the apartment complex, where the officers returned to their own vehicle, according to KPRC 2.

Despite the assistance, police did not locate the suspect. His identity has not been released, and the investigation remains ongoing.

Baines later appeared to confirm in a social media post that he was the Uber driver in the dashcam footage. “Yep, that was me,” he wrote. “The Uber driver whose dashcam caught two HPD officers jumping in my car to chase a suspect.”

Baines described himself as an Army veteran, husband, and father of two who began driving for Uber so he and his wife could save for their first home. Some part-time drivers have shared Uber earnings that surprised them.