Police officers never know what to expect when they first arrive on the scene in response to a call.
This is especially true for law enforcement officers in Florida.
And a sheriff’s deputy instantly realized he made a bad mistake when this crazed Florida man sped off in his patrol car.
Carjackings are becoming a real problem in cities and states across the country.
The most carjackings occur in Colorado and Washington State, while New Hampshire and Maine have the lowest.
But Illinois and Florida saw the highest percentage increase in carjackings from 2021 to 2022.
Carjackings increased by 62% in Illinois and by 42% in Florida.
Most car thieves target smaller vehicles like the Hyundai Elantra, which was the most stolen car in 2023.
But a car thief down in Marion County, Florida recently set his sights on stealing a police car.
On Saturday, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office had two units respond to a “suspicious incident” call.
Once they arrived on the scene, the police were met by 41-year-old James Marion Brady.
According to the police report, Brady lay down in the grass and began “talking about people in the trees.”
“Are you guys here to protect and serve my best interests?” the man can be heard saying in the police body cam footage.
“I’m here because you called,” a deputy responds. “I’m not sure what it is we can do for you,” he continued. “That’s what we’re trying to figure out.”
Brady admitted that he had done drugs and was worried he would go to jail.
But the deputy told him that he would not be arrested unless he had drugs in his possession.
Brady told the officers “you better have your doors locked.”
“I like to steal cars,” he added.
That’s when Brady suddenly yelled “f*** it!” before he catapulted off the ground and sprinted toward the patrol car.
In the bodycam footage, one deputy can be heard asking the other “is your car locked?”
Apparently, the car was unlocked because Brady managed to get inside and speed off with an agency-issued rifle sitting next to him in the passenger seat.
The deputies jumped in the remaining car and started chasing after Brady down the streets of Ocala.
“We’re westbound on 10th Street,” a deputy said in the dashcam video of the chase.
Eventually, the deputies were able to perform a “precision immobilization technique maneuver” that sent Brady and the stolen car spinning in circles.
This allowed deputies to surround the car and prevent Brady from driving any further.
He was arrested without incident and charged with grand theft of a car, fleeing and eluding a law enforcement officer, and aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer.
This is not the first patrol car to be stolen this year from the Marion County Sheriff’s office (MCSO).
Earlier this year, four people were killed after a 33-year-old Florida woman crashed a stolen MCSO patrol car into a pickup truck while trying to get away from police.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
