Welshman Activates James Bond-Like Smoke Screen to Evade Cops
Simon Chaplin attempted to evade the cops with a James Bond-like smoke screen
James Bond might have met his match.
And his name? Chaplin. Simon Chaplin.
Earlier this week, Simon Chaplin was attempting to get away from police in Carmarthenshire in Wales when he decided to pull a James Bond and use a smoke screen to escape. The 62-year-old man flicked a switch on the dashboard of his Peugeot 309 and emitted a large amount of smoke from the exhaust pipe.
Okay, so maybe he wouldn’t give Bond a run for his money—but this story is still really hilarious.
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Turns out, there were more things wrong with Chaplin’s plan, other than the fact that he was driving a Peugeot instead of an Aston Martin DB10. While the actual smoke screen itself was a genius idea—minus the fact that it was ridiculously dangerous to do in real life—the execution wasn’t exactly perfect.
In fact, the smoke screen that was so helpful in allowing Chaplin to escape the law was the exact reason the police were able to track Chaplin down. Is anyone else feeling a Mr. Bean moment here?
Pc Dafydd Campbell Birch explained the experience in an interview with The Telegraph, discussing how he had to follow the smoke at times to get to Chaplin, because the Peugeot was obscured the majority of the time.
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Simon Chaplin entering the courthouse
“There was a vast amount of dense smoke coming out the back,” said Birch. “It completely obscured the road. I had to slow down and keep a distance. I knew when he had turned left only by following the smoke he left behind.”
He went on to say, “At times I came to an almost complete stop because of the smoke. I had to look across the top of the hedgerows to see where he had gone. For awhile I could not see the car, but in the distance I could see the smoke going up a hill towards the village of Crundale.”
Pc Birch attempted to pull over the Peugeot because it had a “DE JURE” number plate, which “didn’t look right.”
Who knows? Maybe Chaplin will make an appearance in the next James Bond film—though it’s not likely. After an appearance in court, Chaplin plead guilty to driving without insurance and threatening behavior, resulting in a community order of 100 hours of unpaid work. He’s also received six points on his license.
New Source: The Telegraph
A born-and-raised Jersey girl, Caitlin Moran has somehow found herself settled in Edinburgh, Scotland. When she’s not spending her days trying to remember which side of the road to drive on, Caitlin enjoys getting down and nerdy with English. She continues to combine her love of writing with her love of cars for The News Wheel, while also learning more about the European car market—including the fact that the Seat brand is pronounced “se-at” not “seat” as you might think. See more articles by Caitlin.