Long Beach, CA - Woman With Mental Problems Steals Long Beach Police Car With AR - 15 Rifle - Arrested By LAPD

Woman believed to be mentally ill steals Long Beach police car
From wire services
Posted: 07/30/2009 06:49:51 AM PDT


LONG BEACH - A woman believed to be mentally ill stole a Long Beach police patrol car early this morning, but the vehicle was later found by Los Angeles police officers at a gas station in Boyle Heights, authorities said.

The vehicle was recovered by Los Angeles police officers at East Fourth Street and South Boyle Avenue just before 3:30 a.m., said Sgt. Al Ramos of the LAPD's Hollenbeck Station.

A man who works at a deli adjacent to the gas station told an On Scene Video camera crew that the woman pulled into the gas station, left the patrol car parked next to a pump and went inside the eatery.

She then asked the clerk for matches, to which he replied they had none. When the woman asked for a lighter, he told her it would cost her a dollar, the clerk said.

The woman told him she had no money, left the deli and began rummaging through the police car, he told On Scene, adding that he immediately called police.

The woman, who has "mental problems," was taken into custody by LAPD officers, but no decision was immediately taken on whether she would be booked in Los Angeles or handed over to Long Beach police, Ramos said.

An AR-15 rifle, still secured, could be seen inside the Long Beach police cruiser.

Long Beach police were summoned to the location shortly after the car was recovered, Ramos.

Details of the car theft were not immediately reported
Beach