Brevard Co, FL - Two Handcuffed Suspects Steal DEP Agents Patrol Vehicle with Assault Rifle and Shotgun - Helicopter and K-9 Search
Suspects Take Off In Police Vehicle
2 men later found in handcuffs
FLORIDA TODAY
Officer Chris Urban had arrested two men Tuesday afternoon in Melbourne when he
began searching their car.
The men, John R. Forrest, 32, and Ren Eugene Pensi, 35, had been handcuffed and
placed in the back seat of Urban's Department of Environmental Protection Ford
Explorer, parked near the Eau Gallie Causeway, according to the DEP.
They were arrested in connection with a burglary at a state park.
A moment later, at about 3 p.m., Urban's sport utility vehicle was speeding
along the causeway toward U.S. 1, with one of the men in the driver's seat.
That started an intense, 90-minute search in Melbourne involving law
enforcement officers on land, water and in the air.
A time later, Forrest and Pensi were arrested near Diamond 99, a riverside
marina north of Post Road. They were still in handcuffs, police said.
The men, both from Palm Bay, were spotted wading in waist-high water in the
Indian River Lagoon, one of them holding a life vest, said Lt. John Coppola of
the sheriff's aviation unit.
They were grabbed by officers the moment they stepped back on shore, police
said.
The Melbourne Police Department was aided by the sheriff's office, the
Florida Highway Patrol and officers from the Fish and Wildlife Commission.
The stolen Explorer had a shotgun and rifle in it. Both guns were found in
the SUV, police said.
"They just didn't want to go to jail, I guess," Sheriff's Lt. Todd Maddox said.