Crime & Safety

Plainfield Biker Who Recorded Cop Chase Faces Sentencing

Daredevil motorcyclist who posted a YouTube video of a dizzying, high-speed chase faces up to six years in prison after being convicted of aggravated fleeing and eluding police.

By Lorraine Swanson

A motorcyclist convicted of aggravated fleeing and eluding police is due to be sentenced on Friday, Trib Local reported.

Hamza Ali Ben Ali, 31, of Plainfield, led police on a high-speed chase and recorded it on a video camera that he had mounted to back of his Honda CBR 1000. Ali would eventually post the seven-minute video on YouTube.

Watch the YouTube video.

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According to the charges, Ali “goaded and baited” Westmont police into chasing him down Cass Avenue when police attempted to stop Ali for speeding along Cass Avenue.

The video shows a police car with lights flashing following the motorcycle into a BP station. The chase is on and the Westmont squad car breaks off the pursuit, only to pick it up again at I-55.

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The bike did not have license mounted on the back, but a sharp-eyed police officer did notice the camera and figured the driver would post it on the Internet. 

The video, “Da OutLaw6’s playing with police while being chased,” eventually showed up on YouTube a few weeks later, leading to Ali’s arrest, according to Trib Local. 

He is also facing charges in Will County for pulling a similar stunt trying to goad Plainfield Police into a chase.

Ali was convicted in a bench trial last month in a DuPage County courtroom and faces six years in prison.

“It’s almost like it was a game to him – look at how fast I can go,” said DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin told the paper.

Ali’s attorney tried to argue that police had no way of knowing that it was client riding the motorcycle.

DuPage County prosecutors said that Ali, an Algerian citizen facing U.S. immigration proceedings, was wearing a GPS anklet as a condition of his federal bond.

Not only did the GPS anklet put Ali on the motorcycle, prosecutors said, it transmitted Ali's speed, which reached up to 115mph,  Trib Local said.

Ali also has prior convictions for aggravated battery against a police officer and possession of a stolen motor vehicle.


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