Edward Louis Woodruff, 23, surrendered at a law enforcement agency near Clearwater, FL, about 3 a.m., Thursday, Cpl. Raymond "Tony" Lovell said. The officer did not know what agency was holding Woodruff.

Once Woodruff signs a waiver of extradition he will be transported back to Baldwin County to face charges of first and second degree theft, Lovell said.

Loxley police have been searching for Woodruff, whom they believed was in Mobile County, since Monday evening.

While turning himself in Monday at the Loxley Police Department on charges that he failed to pay court fines, Woodruff said he was going outside to smoke a cigarette but instead got into Officer Allen Hinton’s car and escaped.

Hinton’s keys were in the car, Chief Cliff Yetter has said.

Yetter also said there was a shotgun inside the passenger area of Hinton’s car and a rifle in the trunk, but Woodruff did not attempt to use the weapons, the chief said.

Later, Daphne police officers found the abandoned car on Ridgewood Drive in the Lake Forest subdivision, Daphne Capt. David Wilson said. Officers first learned about the stolen cruiser when a citizen called and reported that a Loxley police car was cutting doughnuts in the median in Lake Forest, Wilson said.

Back