Crime & Safety

Biker Who Posted Cop Chase Video on YouTube Gets 4-Year Sentence

Hamza Ali Ben Ali, 31, of Plainfield, sentenced Friday by DuPage County judge for luring police into high-speed chase. Also faces possible deportation back to Algeria, the Daily Herald reports.


A Plainfield motorcyclist who goaded police into chasing him and then posted a video on YouTube was sentenced to four years of in the Illinois Department of Corrections for aggravated fleeing and eluding an officer.

Hamza Ali Ben Ali, 31, an Algerian national, led Westmont Police on a high-speed chase in October 21, 2012. Police called off the chase at I-55, but not before a sharp-eyed police officer noticed the camera mounted on the back of Ali’s Honda CBR 1,000.

Watch the chase between Ali and Westmont Police. 

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Knowing it was only a matter of time until a video surfaced on YouTube, Ali was arrested a few weeks later. A GPS anklet Ali was wearing while under supervision for a aggravated assault charge in Cook County, also placed him on the bike.

Ali’s attorney argued during trial that it was difficult to tell who was driving the motorcycle because the rider was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and a tinted helmet, reports said.

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The chase stretched from Westmont to Darien, and eventually to I-55, the Daily Herald reported. Ali reached speeds in excess of 115 mph.

A Westmont police officer testified during trial that Ali would slow down let police catch up to him before speeded off again. Before Ali was sentenced, DuPage County Judge George Bakalis admonished his behavior, the Daily Herald said.

"You put many, many people in jeopardy and then put it online to boast about it," Bakalis said. "This, simply, is not acceptable conduct."

The four years are being tacked on to the three-year sentence Ali is currently the three-year sentence he is currently serving for the Cook County charge totaling seven years, of which he must serve half. 

Ali is also awaiting sentencing for a similar stunt that he pulled in Will County in November 2012, luring Plainfield police into chasing him and then turning on his camera. That sentence will be served consecutively.

He also faces deportation to Algeria, the Daily Herald said.



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