Part of why traffic slows down so much after car accidents is because rubbernecking drivers can’t help but to watch. And so Reddit’s No. 1 video on Monday became footage shot in the aftermath of a collision between a British family, and former BBC producer and director Fergus Beeley.
Pieced together like prestige television, the spiking video begins immediately following the accident. We don’t know who’s at fault, only that Beeley is hell bent on performing a citizen’s arrest against the family that he says wronged him. In the moment, he’s inconsolable.
“Put your hands on the car and get ready to die,” the former producer of Planet Earth and director of Nature yells. “You’re not fit to drive.”
It gets really good at the 1:10 mark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-W7BjtLil9M
According to the BBC, the other driver was 33-year-old Hampshire, U.K., woman Louise Small, who says she felt threatened by Beeley. Her mom, teen son, and partner were also in the car. Police told the BBC that the verbal confrontation did not lead to arrests and that no one was injured in the weekend crash.
But Beeley felt that Small’s driving could have caused a serious tragedy, noting that he wanted to perform a citizen’s arrest for assault (he alleges that the Small family “punched” him), and for “dangerous driving.”
“You’re under a citizen’s arrest,” he said. “You know why I’m involved? Because I tried to stop a death on the roads!”
Beeley could have technically performed a citizen’s arrest. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act of 1974 grants him the right to arrest without a warrant because Small was allegedly “in the act of committing an indictable offence.” Beeley could have gone to court over this stare-down, though any case he had was undercut by local authorities deciding not to arrest anyone at the scene.
However righteous he may have been, the nature documentary producer and co-worker of BBC icon Sir David Attenborough instead became a ripe target for mockery.
“Fergus Beeley”‘s new wildlife documentary gets its first airing. pic.twitter.com/RtJYGNsmqO
— Krumball 🐝 COYH! 😆🍷🦁😎🐕🏄♀️🌞 (@MapleHornet) July 24, 2017
Hi I’m Fergus Beeley, and welcome to Put Your Hand on the Tree and Get Ready to Die pic.twitter.com/3zcAtpAdXF
— James Felton (@JimMFelton) July 23, 2017
At press time, Beeley’s professional website did not load and seemed overwhelmed by internet traffic.
