Elon Musk responds as Tesla 'saves man from jail' after being held by cops at gunpoint

A man managed to avoid prison after footage from his Tesla vehicle cleared his name, and it's all thanks to a feature that was introduced back in 2014.

The incident kicked off after Kevin Finley was held at gunpoint by police and arrested for allegedly fleeing them, with the arrest taking place in his own driveway after cops followed him home.

Finley then appeared in court two years after the incident, where he denied the allegations of fleeing a traffic stop.

When it came to proving his innocence, it was actually camera footage from his Tesla that ended up playing a pivotal role in his defense.

And of course, like with anything singing Tesla's praises, Elon Musk has spoken out on the matter too.

Finley, who is from Winter Springs in Florida, could be seen in the video driving home after dropping his kids off at school when he came across a vehicle stopped in the road.

He then unknowingly drove past the unmarked police car and claimed that when police attempted to stop him, he hadn’t seen them flashing their emergency lights.

This was refuted by police who, in their own footage, could be heard saying: “He’s trying to take off on me.”

However, in Finley’s video, it could be seen that the police car’s lights were only briefly visible before being obscured, making it possible that they had gone unnoticed.

Unaware of what was happening, he returned home and closed his garage door but, after hearing sirens, he reopened it and was met with officers drawing out their guns.

Tesla camera footage was presented as defense evidence

Finley maintained his innocence and had to wait two years before the case was brought before a judge.

After reviewing the footage, the judge acquitted Finley of any wrongdoing and now, Finley has said that he is considering a civil lawsuit.

Ths feature was introduced by Tesla in 2014, with exterior cameras for Autopilot. They later added the interior cabin camera starting with the Model 3 in 2017.

The story drew the attention of many people on social media including the top Tesla boss himself, Elon Musk.

Taking to his own social platform X, formerly Twitter, Musk weighed in on the case, saying: “A Tesla saves its owner from prison!”

This also prompted others to share their thoughts, with one user writing: “Two years for footage that apparently settled it in one viewing says a lot about how slow the actual review process was.”

Another said: “Tesla video may have helped prove the driver was innocent. But there’s another question worth asking: Why didn’t the Tesla clearly alert the driver that a police vehicle was trying to pull him over?”

And a third person added: “Two years of felony charges, a gunpoint driveway arrest, and the only reliable witness was the car. The Tesla didn’t save him from prison, it saved the court from believing the police report.”