ORLANDO, Fla. -- A hospital patient was arrested after stealing and crashing an Orlando police officer's patrol vehicle.
- Hospital patient charged after stealing, crashing OPD car
- Suspect identified as Alexander Gonzales Jr.
- Gonzales first left hospital and was seen running into traffic
The Orlando Police Department said they received a call about a suspicious person from Florida South Security Staff just before midnight on Saturday. Police were told a patient had left the hospital and was last seen running into vehicle traffic near Orange Avenue and Princeton Street.
When police arrived on scene they spotted the suspect, identified as Alexander Gonzales Jr., acting erratically in the middle of the intersection. Officials said as the patrol officer got out of his vehicle to make contact with the suspect, Gonzales eluded the officer and got into the patrol car and fled the area.
Gonzales didn't make it far, officials said, when he lost control of the patrol car and crashed into a concrete telephone pillar near the intersection of Princeton Street and Elizabeth Avenue. The impact caused the car to flip onto its driver side.
Officials said Gonzales refused to get out of the vehicle, so the SWAT team was called to remove Gonzales from the vehicle. He was then placed under arrest.
No one else was injured during the incident.
Gonzales is charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle, criminal mischief, resisting officer without violence, and driving while license suspended.