POSTED: 6:50 am PDT June 8, 2005

COMPTON, Calif. -- A man who had just completed a ride-along with a Compton-based sheriff's deputy stole the deputy's patrol car early Wednesday and then led deputies on a chase before being arrested, authorities said.

NBC4's Robert Kovacik said Steven Funderburk, 20, had arranged the ride-along by falsely claiming to be an Explorer Scout. Anyone is eligible for a ride-along with deputies if they have no felony convictions and fill out an application.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Sgt. Don Manumaleuna said Funderburk took off in the patrol car at about 1:30 a.m. after telling Deputy Alexander Miller that he was going to retrieve a backpack he had left in the trunk. Miller said he went inside the Compton station at 301 S. Willowbrook Ave. and when he returned, he discovered the car was missing.

Compton patrol deputies spotted the stolen vehicle near the Long Beach border shortly after it was taken, Manumaleuna said, and several deputies joined a pursuit that went through Compton, Long Beach and Westminster.

Kovacik reported that Funderburk talked to the pursuing deputies over their car radios during the chase, and Miller was able to talk to Funderburk on the patrol car's radio and convince him to surrender without incident.

Funderburk surrendered on northbound lanes of the Long Beach (710) Freeway, south of Wardlow Road, and was taken into custody, Manumaleuna said.

Funderburk faces charges of grand theft auto and evading a police officer.

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