10/14/13 Palm Beach Co., FL – Wanted Suspect – Foot Chase – Suspect Steals Deputy’s Patrol Car – Crashes – Escapes – Prostitute Turns Him In The Next Day

October 14, 2013

palmbeachpost.com

It took multiple Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputies, a helicopter, police dogs and a suspected prostitute to catch a 31-year-old man who hopped into a patrol cruiser while fleeing from the cops, furthering his escape until he crashed.

The run-in with Anthony Stone started around 1:30 a.m. Oct. 3, hen a deputy spotted him and knew he had an outstanding warrant for failing to appear in court on a retail theft charge.

The deputy was on routine patrol on South D Street in Lake Worth. Once Stone, 31, saw the deputy, he ran west and through a yard on South S Street, according to a probable-cause affidavit.

Stone continued running even while a deputy demanded him to stop. Additional deputies were called to assist in the chase. One of them parked her patrol car on North D Street and left it there to help search for Stone on foot.

That’s when Stone jumped into the patrol car and sped north on D Street, west on Lucerne Avenue and south on South C Street.

Stone lost control of the car and hit a car parked on South C Street. The car was found abandoned in a vacant lot at South C Street and Fourth Avenue South. Blood was found in the car, which deputies think was from injuries Stone may have received during the crash.

Because none of the deputies searching for Stone found him or even could place him behind the wheel of the patrol car during the chase, a detective sent out an email the next day asking all District 14 deputies to look for Stone and notify the detective upon success.

The next day, a detective met with a 28-year-old woman whom deputies said in their report is known to be a prostitute in the area.

“I guess you want to talk to me about Anthony,” the woman allegedly said to the detective.

The woman told the detective she saw Stone him driving the patrol car and also saw him crash into a red Nissan. She said Stone has been bragging to “everyone on the street” about stealing the patrol car and that “the street people” think he’s a hero for doing so.

The woman also told the detective that she tried helping by calling 911, but the dispatcher told her she couldn’t hear and hung up. She told the detective she believed Stone sleeps in a vacant house on South D Street.

Later that day, deputies went to the home and took Stone into custody. Stone, who had a large cut on the left side of his head, said he was in an accident but declined to speak further.

Stone remains in the Palm Beach County Jail on Monday on charges of burglary of a conveyance, grand theft of a motor vehicle and failure to appear. His bond has been set at $8,000, records show.