A Missouri man is in custody after he reportedly shoplifted, drove a stolen vehicle off a cliff, ripped off a police car in handcuffs, and broke into a resident’s home, police say.
The wild chain of events began at 3 p.m. Saturday when the Lake Ozark Police Department received a report of a shoplifting incident at an Eagles’ Landing Kohl’s, according to a police report. The unidentified suspect rammed two responding officers’ patrol cars with a stolen vehicle before driving away. After becoming involved in a head-on collision, the suspect “then left the scene and … drove straight off the roadway, down an incline and then went off the first layer of the cliff above the Route MM Highway,” per the report.
Officials have identified a man who jumped into a Dearborn police vehicle and sped off while officers were investigating a large parking lot fight. https://t.co/ZvrqXDnjCe
— Local 4 WDIV Detroit (@Local4News) August 16, 2021
The suspect was arrested, handcuffed, and shackled — but somehow was “able to get his hands from behind his back, broke the cage partition and was able to climb in the driver’s seat and took off with the LOPD car,” the report reads. After crashing that car, the suspect broke into a home and tried to steal a boat — but police arrived in time to stop him, they say.
Should the officer who lost his patrol car be reprimanded?