With a heavy duty bash bar and off-road tires, this hit-and-run driver was going nowhere quick

FJ Cruiser owner Gilberto Ambriz, who goes by @gil510 on Instagram, shared dash-mounted smartphone footage earlier this week showing him chasing after and successfully catching up to a hit-and-run driver who presumably hit his FJ Cruiser while he was driving on the 880 near Hayward, California.

This guy tried to run from him not once, but twice!

Check out the heart-pounding footage for yourself below.

“Hit and run …this dumb*** trying to outrun me twice, ended up catching him at the end no damage to my FJ but the rock sliders 🤣,” the video caption reads.

The video starts out showing Ambriz in his FJ Cruiser weaving through traffic, trying to catch up to a driver in a Mercury Grand Marquis.

It’s not clear where and how he was hit but it was a big enough deal where Ambriz decided to give chase.

It’s not apparent from the footage or this post’s featured photo but not only is Ambriz in one of Toyota’s more off-road capable SUVs, this one’s tricked out with beefier, off-road (A/T) tires and a heavy-duty aluminum bumper to protect his front end up front.

This is what Ambriz’s FJ Cruiser looks like.

In other words, this Grand Marquis picked the wrong car to hit.

While the FJ Cruiser is no sports car, it’s off-road suspension allows it to duck and dive through traffic a lot better than that hit-and-run driver realized.

Ambriz eventually catches up to the Grand Marquis on an off-ramp.

The footage shows the Grand Marquis pulling over and, after Ambriz has a quick word with the driver, he probably learned he was either uninsured or was not going to voluntarily exchange information with him.

At that point the Grand Marquis runs, again and, even though Amrbiz is held up by another car, he fortunately spots the Grand Marquis flipping a U-Turn.

All that separates Amrbiz and that driver is a puny center divider which his off-road tires make quick work of when he flips a U.

As to what happened after he catches up to him the video ends, Ambriz left no follow-up on the post or on his viral re-post on @ItsTheBay.

“I would never recommend doing this but I respect the commitment,” @KumiTheRealtor comments.

“The fact he really didn’t even have to put that much effort in finding him the 2nd time makes it even funnier,” @Young_Nizzy_Beats points out.

“Dangerous, especially at the end, but I respect the dedication,” @MyKP415 comments.

As the comments above hint at, experts recommend never running after a fleeing driver.

According to State Farm,

“DON’T follow the fleeing driver. Leaving the scene of the accident could put you in a compromising position: You’ll miss getting eyewitness accounts — and police could question who’s really at fault. Not only that, you run the risk of getting into another accident, or putting yourself in a dangerous situation without knowing the demeanor of the other driver.”

State Farm’s blog post goes on to recommend to immediately call 911, collect as much information about the other driver as you can (before your short term memory fades) and, if possible, ask witnesses if they can supply additional information.

And, like so many of my posts, this is, yet again, another reminder to get yourself a dashcam.

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