Indiana Patrol Car Stolen at Store Break-in
4/18/04 - INDYSTAR.COM
CROWNPOINT, Ind. – This patrol car was not too secure – at least not after an officer left the keys in it with the engine idling.
An officer chasing a suspicious man around a gasoline station saw him get away when he hopped in the patrol car and drove away.
Keith Batton, a guard for Lakes of the Four Seasons – an unincorporated community of some 7,000 people about 20 miles south of Gary – had his car stolen Thursday.
Batton was on patrol in the community when he saw a sport utility vehicle parked near a closed gasoline station according to Lake County police.
Batton slowed to get a closer look. Seeing no one inside the gasoline station, he started to drive from the parking lot when he saw a garbage can sticking out of a broken window of the business, police said. He then saw a man walk out of the building.
Batton left his patrol car and chased the man. After chasing the man around the building and toward the car, he watched as the man hopped in and drove it straight at Batton.
The guard fired a couple of shots at the car, but the thief got away. Batton looked around and saw the SUV also was gone.
Batton told police officer there must have been two people in on the crime. About 50 cartons of cigarettes were reported stolen from the gas station.
The patrol car was found a few hours later about a half-mile away. No arrests have been made as of Friday, police said.