Dallas Man Steals Police Cruiser While Officer Sits in Back Seat

Bodycam and dashcam footage released by Dallas police show a 37-year-old suspect slipping out of handcuffs, overpowering an officer in the back of a moving patrol car, and attempting to flee on a highway before being subdued.

Dallas Man Steals Police Cruiser While Officer Sits in Back Seat

A 37-year-old Texas man managed to steal a Dallas police cruiser while a patrol officer was still sitting in the back seat next to him, according to footage released by the Dallas Police Department and reported by Police.hu.

On the afternoon of May 30, traffic officers pulled over Stacey Huffman on Marsalis Avenue in southern Dallas. Officers discovered that his driver's license had expired and that he was carrying drugs and an unlicensed firearm. They placed him under arrest, handcuffed his arms behind his back, secured him with a seatbelt in the right rear seat of the patrol vehicle, and began driving toward the nearest correctional facility on Interstate 35E.

While the vehicle was in motion, Huffman freed his left hand from the handcuffs, unbuckled his seatbelt, and began pulling at the right rear door, which would not open. Both officers exited the vehicle on the highway on-ramp to restrain him. The moment both officers stepped outside, Huffman lunged forward into the driver's seat and accelerated. The officer who had been in the back seat managed to jump back inside and ordered him to surrender. The officer deployed a Taser, but Huffman tore out the wires and kept driving.

Sergeant Kenneth Harper, who had exited from the front passenger seat, struck Huffman with the butt of his service weapon. Huffman then opened the door and leaped from the moving vehicle onto the asphalt just as the cruiser reached approximately 80 km/h on the interstate. The officer in the back seat grabbed the steering wheel and swerved away from a parked car on the shoulder.

Huffman remained on the ground, partially incapacitated by the Taser shock. Other officers arrived shortly afterward, stopped traffic, and with help from civilians provided first aid. Huffman was transported to a hospital with serious injuries.

He now faces multiple charges, including unauthorized vehicle operation, drug possession, possession of an unlicensed firearm, theft of an official vehicle, and escape from police custody.

Source: Google News HU — Crime (hu)