Unmarked Deputy’s Nissan Altima Stolen Near Los Angeles Airport

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A Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department deputy had his unmarked Nissan Altima stolen by a suspect as it sat outside a hotel near LAX. Airports, including the hotels near them, are oftentimes big hunting grounds for car thieves. It doesn’t help that the deputy reportedly left the unmarked vehicle running when it was swiped.

Suspect crashes his truck on a college football stadium field.

Thankfully, Los Angeles Police Department officers spotted the unmarked unit with its emergency lights activated when they were taking a break while on shift. Apparently, it was obvious the driver wasn’t a cop, so they gave chase, reports OnScene TV.

That chase apparently went in circles until officers were able to stop the stolen sheriff’s car and arrest the driver. It doesn’t sound like there were any accidents or other incidents resulting from the chase, which is fortunate considering what might have been.

It’s not clear if the suspect even knew it was a cop’s car when he initially targeted it for a quick score. But surely at some point, likely very early, he realized it was and either turned on the emergency lights or kept them on, which is what got him caught by LAPD.

This incident once again makes us wonder why law enforcement vehicles aren’t equipped with a device that detects when a cop is in the driver’s seat, not someone else, and only then will allow the transmission to be shifted. We know that’s not a difficult thing to devise with current technology.

With how many times running police cars, not to mention other first responder vehicles like fire trucks, ambulances, etc., are stolen as they idle at the scene of an incident, we would think something like that would be necessary and well-received.

In this case at least the deputy’s car wasn’t trashed and it wasn’t involved in some horrific crash. But we’ve seen these types of situations end tragically, often for innocent people who are just out running errands or are on their way home from work.

Image via OnScene TV/YouTube

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