Blountsville, AL - Handcuffed Suspect Steals Deputy's Patrol Car - Search Dogs found him 2 hrs later
Deputy's Patrol Car Stolen By Man In Custody
POSTED: 10:36 am EDT June 8, 2006
BLOUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- A Blount County, Alabama sheriff deputy's patrol car
was stolen Tuesday morning by a man he had in custody.
Sheriff Danny Morton said the incident occurred about 9 a.m.
Morton said it all started when 31-year-old Billy Joe Martin of Cullman was
arrested during a traffic stop near the intersections of Highway 231 and Highway
67. He said Martin was handcuffed and seated in the back of the patrol car
when he somehow managed to crawl through a sliding glass window in the police
cruiser and drive away. A passing motorist stopped the assist the deputy.
Martin drove north on Highway 231 and the officer's vehicle was later found at
the Summit Cemetery.
Officers and search dogs combed a wooded area where they found Martin about
two hours later. Sheriff's investigator Terry Sherbert said Martin was
charged with first-degree theft and escape.
He was booked in the Blount County Jail under a $200,000 bond. Sheriff Morton
said Martin also faces drug-related charges.