A shooting suspect is in custody after allegedly stealing two vehicles, one of which was a Pensacola police cruiser.
According to authorities, a shooting was reported around 4 a.m. Saturday at Colbert Avenue off Gulf Beach Highway. Pensacola Police received a call just before 8 a.m. that the suspect’s vehicle might be parked near a dumpster in the 1800 block of North Palafox Street. Officers responded to the area and took the suspect into custody after a foot pursuit, handcuffed him and put him into the back of an officer’s cruiser.
According to Cindy West with the Pensacola Police Department, as officers were gathering information, the suspect managed to escape from the handcuffs, get into the front of the cruiser and flee the scene. The suspect then went to a friend’s house in the 1900 block of West Intendencia Street and stole their vehicle.
The suspect fled once again from police on Gulf Beach Highway but was taken into custody near Patton Drive and Navy Boulevard after he lost control of the vehicle and struck a few poles.
The police cruiser was later found abandoned along Intendencia Street.
The name of the suspect has yet been released.