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Handcuffed Gulfport, Florida man steals cruiser, shot at, crashes Associated Press Nov. 16, 2003 GULFPORT, Fla. - A handcuffed man stole a police cruiser and dodged bullets from officers before crashing into a house, authorities said.A police officer was hit by the cruiser and was dragged a short distance Saturday but was not hurt. Jerome Smith, 22, of St. Petersburg, was being held Sunday on $265,000 bond on escape, auto theft, aggravated battery and drug charges. A public defender will be appointed to represent him, a jail official said. A bail bondsman called police to arrest Smith on a probation violation, and he wound up in the cruiser. But he shifted his handcuffed hands from his back to the front, moved from the back seat to the front and drove off. Three officers fired at the fleeing car. "It looked to them like this guy was trying to use the car to run over the officers," said police Lt. Robert Vincent. Two officers chased him until Smith crashed into the entryway of a house and ran away. He was back in custody a block away. Smith was wanted for violating probation on charges of shooting into an occupied vehicle, aggravated assault and gun possession by a felon.
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