07/03/14 Boynton Beach, FL – Female Shoplifter In Handcuffs Steals Police Cruiser – 2nd Cruiser Chases And Hits Stolen Cruiser – Suspect Runs Into A Home – Homeowner Wrestles Her Down

Boynton Beach, FL – Female Shoplifter In Handcuffs Steals Police Cruiser – 2nd Cruiser Chases And Hits Stolen Cruiser – Suspect Runs Into A Home – Homeowner Wrestles Her Down

July 3, 2014

sun-sentinel.com

After you’ve been accused of stealing a $1,300 laptop from Best Buy, why not steal a cop car too?

Police in Boynton Beach said Candice Kelly, 33, did just that. While being questioned for shoplifting, a handcuffed Kelly managed to get behind the wheel of a police cruiser and take off. Two officers followed her in a second cruiser, and their chase ended with a fender bender between the two cop cars.

On Wednesday, police were holding Kelly outside of the Best Buy at 550 North Congress Avenue for allegedly stealing a laptop.

While one officer went to get Kelly’s license from her car, Kelly answered questions while handcuffed next to another officer on the driver’s side of a police cruiser.

Suddenly, she jumped into the unlocked police cruiser and locked the door, according to an arrest report.

The two officers tried to get the doors open and ordered Kelly to get out of the car, but she sped out of the store’s parking lot and onto Old Boynton Road.

The two officers jumped into a second patrol car and gave chase, driving a short distance away into a residential neighborhood in hot pursuit, according to the report. The stolen cruiser was just around a corner in the road when the officer turned and rear ended it.

But Kelly was nowhere to be found.

When the officers got out of the cruiser, they heard a man screaming, according to the report. Down the road, they saw a man in his front lawn holding down Kelly.

Police asked the man what happened, and he said he was sitting in his house when Kelly ran in through the front door. He wrestled her out of the house, held her down and started yelling for help, police said.

After checking Kelly’s records, they found that this isn’t the first time she’s been accused of stealing a car. Kelly had an open warrant out of Broward County for grand theft auto.

Boynton Beach police spokeswoman Stephanie Slater said the police cruisers only had minor damage, and added that there are no internal investigations under way for the officers involved.

Slater said she has not seen the report and did not know specific information about the damage or its costs.

Kelly, on the other hand, is being charged with retail theft, escape, eluding an officer and grand theft auto. She is being held at the Palm Beach County Jail in lieu of $20,000 bail.

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