delraybeach

Police car, stolen from officer's home, is crashed after chase

By Akilah Johnson
Staff Writer
Posted April 30 2004 - Delray Beach, Florida

A Delray Beach detective's police car was stolen from in front of his house early Thursday morning -- a first since the department started letting officers take their cars home almost three years ago -- and recovered in Broward County after a high-speed chase, officials said.

A Florida Highway Patrol trooper accidentally found Detective Julius Mitchell's green Ford Taurus in Hollywood, officials said.

The car was parked in the Auburn Trace apartment complex parking lot in Delray Beach when it was taken, officials said.

One of Mitchell's neighbors saw two men trying to pry open the driver's-side door about 3:20 a.m. and called police, Delray Beach police Lt. Marc Woods said.

Police broadcast an alert to look for the car, but it was the driver's driving that caught a trooper's eye.

About 30 minutes after it was stolen from the 600 block of Southwest 12th Avenue, a trooper spotted the car speeding down Interstate 95 at 92 mph, Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Roger Reyes said.

The trooper chased the car, and both got off the interstate at Hollywood Boulevard. The thief tried to escape by running a red light and attempting to get back on the highway, Reyes said.

He hit a curb and his car spun out, disabling it, Reyes said. That's when the driver got out of the car, ran across I-95, down an embankment and got away, he said.

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