A suspected car thief made a bizarre (albeit original) attempt at evading police Wednesday — by driving his SUV straight into the ocean.
The two-hour police chase in Perth, Australia, appeared to be coming to an end when the suspect found himself on the beach with nowhere to go.
But as police closed in, the man appeared to make a last-ditch bid for freedom by accelerating straight into breaking waves.
As the vehicle was swamped, the suspect climbed out of the driver's-side window and onto the roof of the car.
Concerned for his safety, two officers followed him into the water — on foot — but found themselves at the mercy of the heavy surf, which was tossing around the four-wheel drive.
"Looking back now, it was probably a bit risky, but at the time we were just concerned about his welfare," said officer Matthew Bruse, according to NBC News' Australian partner Channel 7.
"We had tried to coax him into shore but he refused to do that and was taking items out of the car and tossing them around, so we decided to go in," Bruse said. "Fortunately as we reached him a wave broke, which freed his grip on the car and took him closer to shore and then he came with us willingly."