Stolen Orange County Patrol Vehicle Involved in Numerous Collisions
Orange County Police Officers are scratching their heads over what exactly happened to allow an individual or individuals to steal a patrol vehicle with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, and take it on a joy-ride that resulted in a collision in West Palm Bay on Thursday, May 9th. Reports on the incident are currently incomplete as the deputies working the case are not entirely sure who stole the vehicle. Also not included is the information regarding where the vehicle was stolen from, whether or not the Sheriff’s Department was aware that one of their law enforcement vehicles had been stolen, or just what took place to allow this to happen at all.
What we do know is that officers within Cocoa started to receive reports about one of their vehicles chasing a car through the city. It is not clear why the police were called to report on a police vehicle chasing another car, but the wording of the report seems to indicate that this is indeed what happened.
While the patrol vehicle was chasing the second car, a black Cadillac, the driver lost control of the vehicle as they were traveling around a sharp curve. The vehicle then struck a home located along Greenwood Way, close to its intersection with Japonica Lane. It is not entirely clear what time of day this collision took place, but the reports do indicate that at least one of the homeowners was inside of the garage. In another odd turn of events, it appears as though this individual was sleeping within this building.
After the collision, the second homeowner exited the house, saw the smashed garage and the first homeowner inside of it. It is not believed that either of these individuals were injured. The driver of the Cadillac was possibly injured, but they took off running from the scene as soon as they were able. When the police arrived, there was not much to do other than investigate the garage.
Meanwhile, another officer spotted the stolen Orange County Sheriff’s Department car trying to perform traffic stops on other vehicles. The wording of the reports muddle the issue, but it appears that numerous parked cars were struck during this process, although it is not clear just who struck them.
Cocoa police officers attempted to chase the driver of the stolen vehicle, but this person easily evaded them and ditched the car behind the Save-A-Lot Plaza located along Dixon Boulevard. At the time of this writing no arrests have been made and the police have no suspects.
Sources:
James O. Cunningham
Since 1977, personal injury lawyer James Cunningham has provided effective legal advocacy to people who are injured through the negligent actions of another person or entity throughout the Central Florida area. He fights to obtain recoveries for his clients’ physical and emotional pain and suffering and pursues his clients’ personal injury cases with a commitment to excellence and impeccable preparation.
