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Deputies Recover Stolen Alabama Police Chief’s Car, Arrest Suspect Out Of Gas
February 14, 2008
Escambia County deputies recovered a stolen unmarked East Brewton, Alabama, police car Wednesday morning and arrested the man they found sitting in it.
Curdy Dortch (pictured left), 33, of Smiths Station, Alabama, was found sitting in the unmarked police car alongside Highway 29 about 6:00 Wednesday morning where he had run out of gas. Dortch first told deputies various stories about who he was and who the police car belonged to, but it was determined that the car belonged to East Brewton Police Chief B.C. Cooper.
Deputies first received a call from a passerby that reported what appeared to be an unmarked police car with an Alabama municipal tag sitting on the shoulder of Highway 29 just south of Pine Barren Road about 6:00 Wednesday morning. When Sgt. David Preston arrived, he found Dortch inside the car.
Preston said Dortch told him that he was in East Brewton Tuesday and got into the unlocked car because he was cold and it was raining. He told deputies that he noticed the key was in the car, and he decided to go to Pensacola.
“It was cold and raining and I just got in it. I didn’t know it was no police car,” Dortch told NorthEscambia.com as he sat in custody in Preston’s cruiser.
Escambia County (Alabama) Sheriff’s Lt. Kenneth Brazille said the vehicle was taken about 6:00 Tuesday night from DJ’s Paint and Body in East Brewton. He said there should have been two weapons in the trunk of the vehicle, but Preston said deputies did not find any weapons in the vehicle.
Brazille said the car was located outside the body shop; the body shop employee was going to place it inside the shop last night after he returned from getting something to eat. It had a broken windshield that was to be repaired because the police chief had collided with a buzzard, Brazille said.
Dortch was transported to the Escambia County Florida Jail where he was charged with dealing in stolen property, driving while license suspended or revoked and providing false identification to police. His bond was set at $5,000 on the driver’s license charge. He is expected be extradited back to Alabama where he will face charges for stealing the car, most likely to include grand theft auto.
The car was released to the East Brewton Police Department.
NorthEscambia.com was the first media on the scene Wednesday morning. For more exclusive photos, click here for a photo gallery. Click any photo on this page to enlarge.
Comments
One Response to “Deputies Recover Stolen Alabama Police Chief’s Car, Arrest Suspect Out Of Gas”
news laws need to be mandated on requiring all law vehicles to be secure with tremco or other device to secure units. with the econ way it is, more thefts are being reported at high rate of police units, mostly to gain access to equip to steal. however new radios are equipped to be killed once reported stolen over the air, and akill stun code is sent, howver you still have a shotgun etc they can steal.