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LEX 18 Crime Stoppers: Car Thief Eludes Police

Posted at 6:28 PM, Feb 25, 2019
and last updated 2019-02-25 20:52:34-05

LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) -When driving a car…it’s probably best not to jump into traffic and cut off a police cruiser. That goes double if the car happens to be stolen.

Lexington police could use your help identifying the man they say stole a car and then ran from officers.  The car pulled in front of an officer and began driving recklessly. You can then imagine what happened next.

“As the officers see the vehicle driving recklessly, they run the registration on their computer and it comes back as stolen,” Det. Mark Thomas tells LEX 18.

The person of interest managed to hit the gas and get away from the cops as they attempted to initiate a traffic stop. He did eventually come to a dead end near UK’s campus and abandoned the vehicle.

The car was returned to the owner, who has since learned never to leave his vehicle running unattended.

“Whether you steal the car, or you’re in possession or receiving it, it’s the same felony, the same charge, you’re gonna get the same amount of time,” says Thomas.

The man’s image was captured at a gas station. If you recognize the individual contact Bluegrass Crime Stoppers at 859-253-2020 or text your information to “CRIMES”  and add LEX PD in the message, along with your anonymous tip.