In a desperate bid

After finally crashing a stolen Mercedes into railings, he dived into a nearby pond in a desperate bid to escape.
   - The Express

I boiled the kettle in a desperate bid to make a cup of tea.
   - My Autobiography

In newspapers bidding seems to be the standard method of attempting. Five thousand people have been in bids in British newspapers in the last month. Fifty of those bids have been desperate; five final; but only two futile, which is a Good Ratio. It's as though the whole world and all the possibilities of the future were on sale in a vast metaphysical auction. Reality holds the gavel; hope cries the lots and all bids are desperate.

The other thing that struck me about the Express report above is that it was the nearbyness of the pond that foiled the fugitive. He should have dived into a faraway pond. That's what I always do.

A picture I took of a faraway pond into which I often dive