Duluth, MN - Drunk Steals Running Police Car by Smashing Window with Rock - Crashes Police Car

Drunken man takes police car for a ride
ARREST: The suspect ended up crashing the squad car, police say.

NEWS TRIBUNE

Superior police said an intoxicated man stole a running marked squad car Tuesday afternoon, then led authorities on a short chase before crashing it.

The 35-year-old Duluth man used a large rock to break the driver's side window of the squad car about 2:30 p.m. It was parked with the doors locked outside the Wisconsin Department of Corrections Probation-Parole Office at 1302 Tower Ave., according to a news release by Capt. Charles LaGesse of the Superior Police Department.

The patrolman was inside the office picking up some paperwork when someone told him a man was trying to break into his squad car. The officer looked outside and saw the man smash the window and drive away, according to police.

The suspect then drove past the police department, where other officers gave chase. The man was headed east on Belknap Street when he rear-ended another driver at the intersection with Clough Avenue. That car hit the vehicle in front of it as well.

 The suspect, meanwhile, was arrested while trying to run away after parking near Pilgrim Lutheran Church.

The suspect suffered a minor injury to his arm and was taken to a Duluth hospital by ambulance. He is now being held in the Douglas County Jail on preliminary charges of drunken driving, car theft, fleeing police and driving without a valid license.

The suspect is scheduled to make his initial court appearance today in Douglas County Circuit Court.

The squad car was heavily damaged.

Police say they leave their cars running with the doors locked so the cars are ready to go in hurry. It takes precious time to log off or restart their onboard computers and other electronics every time they get in and out of the car, officers say.

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