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Greenville patrol car taken on joyride in mall parking lot Posted Tuesday, February 17, 2004 - 7:49 pm A Greenville County Sheriff's office patrol car was stolen and taken on a joyride Monday after the deputy parked it at the Haywood Mall with the key locked inside, a spokesman said. Someone apparently took it for a spin and then parked it about 200 yards from where it was to begin with, Sgt. Shea Smith said Tuesday. The deputy was on his lunch break at about 10:45 a.m. Monday when he went to the mall to return a defective controller to EB Electronics, Smith said. He left the key in the ignition, he said. The deputy came out of the mall 20 minutes later and couldn't find the car, he said. He rode around with mall security and still couldn't find it, Smith said. Shortly before noon, dispatchers told deputies to watch for the car, he said. A shift lieutenant found it about 20 minutes later, he said. There were jimmy marks on the passenger side of the car, indicating it had been stolen, he said. It's possible that whoever took the car was still driving it when dispatchers alerted deputies over the radio, Smith said. The case is being investigated internally and as an auto theft, he said. Smith said it's not uncommon for deputies to carry a second key while they leave their keys locked in their cars during traffic stops or other calls. "Outside of those incidences, they should be locking the car up and taking the key out of the car," he said. Anyone with information about the theft is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 23-Crime. |