Florida Man is at it again, this time achieving a feat that’s left police confused. A suspect who was already in handcuffs behind his back managed to steal a police car and led a chase with triple-digit speeds through Kansas.
ABC News reports that the Florida resident, Joshua Swartwout, is alleged to have not only piloted the stolen police cruiser at speeds of 100 mph with handcuffs on but did so for more than 30 miles.
Swartwout pulled off his trick Saturday while being transported to a detention facility by a trooper, the Kansas Highway Patrol said. He was already arrested on suspicion of auto theft after an earlier police chase. Trooper Tod Hileman, a spokesperson for the Kansas Highway Patrol, says that Swartwout was sitting up front in the car. This cruiser didn’t have a partition or cage to separate the front and rear seats of the vehicle.
According to a news release from the Kansas Highway Patrol, the officer driving the patrol car witnessed a motorcycle crash and stopped to help. While he was doing so, the release says, Swartwout slipped into the driver seat then took off in the car.
Despite still being cuffed, Swartwout led a police chase for over 30 miles with speeds of 100 mph on a narrow two-lane highway, the release says. The chase continued toward the Colorado border, stopping only because the stolen patrol car ran out of fuel. When police finally arrested him again, he was still wearing the cuffs behind his back.
You wouldn’t think that someone who doesn’t have use of their hands would be anything close to proficient at driving. He certainly had Hileman stumped:
“As a high-speed pursuit driving instructor for 20 years, I can only assume he was using his knees,” Hileman said.
This shouldn’t have to be said, but it’s not a great idea to steal a car and go on a police chase, especially if you’re already being arrested for stealing a car and causing a police chase.
Investigators are still trying to figure out how the suspect managed to drive a car for so long and so far without the use of his hands.