Man arrested, Then Flees in Police Department Cruiser: Gladwin County Sheriff Seeks Suspect
By: Joel Doepker - September 9, 2003
Gladwin County – A suspect arrested for a string of breaking and entering is on the run after getting away in a Gladwin County Sheriff’s patrol car. Police are on the lookout for David Edward Owen.
Owen, 32, is from Midland. He got away from four police officers Monday evening after being hand-cuffed and put inside a police vehicle. ABC12’s Joel Doepker had more. It is somewhat amazing how Owen got from the backseat of the patrol car to the driver’s seat. He only had a few minutes.
The woods of northeast Gladwin are the last place officers saw Owen, running through the trees. The whole thing started when a State Police trooper saw Owen pulled over along the side of the road. The officer was suspicious when he saw items inside, that were stolen from Gladwin County homes.
Owen was handcuffed and put in the back of a Gladwin County sheriff’s deputy car with four officers nearby. He squirmed his way through a hole in the Plexiglass and drove away with the car. After a short chase, he crashed the car and ran away through the woods, never to be found.
Sheriff Michael Shea is looking into his policies, thankful no one was hurt. Owen has escaped from police before. While awaiting trial in 1994 for breaking into homes in Midland County, he tried to break out of jail then.
If anyone comes in contact with him, police warn that caution should be used; he may have guns on him from the homes Gladwin County homes he broke into.