As it turns out, your name doesn’t have to be Trevor Philips, Michael De Santa, nor Franklin Clinton for you to lead police on a multi-county car chase like an absolute mad man, stealing not one but two patrol vehicles in the process. By the way, those are the three protagonists of Grand Theft Auto V, a game where you’ll often find yourself stealing police cruisers out of “necessity.”
Funny how stealing a police car will generate the exact same reaction in real life as it does in Grand Theft Auto. You’re instantly swarmed by law enforcement trying to haul your behind off the streets. Granted, once you steal a cop car in GTA, you’re getting shot at constantly, whereas the officers involved in this incident managed to stay a lot more composed.
Responsible for this whole debacle is one Xavier Javern Cummings, a 33-year-old man from Florida who was eventually apprehended and arrested on suspicion of burglary, eluding law enforcement, possession of a firearm by a felon, firearm theft, motor vehicle theft, plus driving with a suspended license, reports NBC News.
The chase took place this past weekend, when Cocoa, Florida police responded to a disturbance at a hotel, resulting in Cummings taking off in a patrol sedan heading northbound. It was a Volusia County Sheriff’s cruiser that pushed the sedan off Interstate 95 and into the woods after joining the chase.
Unfortunately for all the officers on location, the suspect used the surrounding area to his advantage, taking off suddenly towards another Cocoa patrol cruiser, this time an SUV. Despite the officers holding him at gunpoint, he floored the throttle and managed to continue driving north for another 8 or 10 miles, as per Volusia Sheriff Michael J. Chitwood.
“After units along I-95 successfully deployed stop sticks, the suspect again ran off the highway and into a muddy median around the 258-mile marker,” said the Volusia office in a statement. It was there that Cummings was finally apprehended. You hardly ever get the chance to steal a third police vehicle, even in the Grand Theft Auto video game.
Sergiu got to experience both American and European car "scenes" at an early age (his father drove a Ford Fiesta XR2 supermini in the 80s). After spending over 15 years at local and international auto publications, he's starting to appreciate comfort behind the wheel more than raw power and acceleration. Full profile
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