Teen wheels police cruiser for short spin

3/22/2001

BRYAN - A police car yesterday briefly wound up in the wrong hands.

While Bryan police investigated a noninjury hit-skip accident, the driver they were looking for drove off in a police cruiser, Police Capt. Larry Altman said.

A parked car was sideswiped in the northwest part of Bryan, at 3:45 a.m. Police received a tip that the car that did the damage and had left the scene was at an apartment complex on the town's east side.

Officers found the hit-skip car and were seeking its owner when a youth, 17, got into the police car and drove away, Captain Altman said.

He did not get far.

The cruiser was found just four blocks away after it had smashed into a utility pole. The driver was arrested. He is a suspect in the hit-and-run accident.

“We don't know why he tried to get away in a police car,'' Captain Altman said. “Some people think they can get away with something like that.''

Police would not release the name of the juvenile, who was charged with delinquency in connection with the theft of the vehicle, of assaulting an officer, and of resisting arrest.

The case is under investigation; other charges are pending, Captain Altman said.