COLUMBIA COUNTY, Fla. – An inmate accused of stealing a city vehicle and colliding with another vehicle was taken into custody Thursday, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Officials said a Ford Ranger was stolen from the city of Sneads at about 12:50 p.m. by James Bolding Jr., 49, a Department of Corrections inmate assigned to a work detail.
A maintenance vehicle was parked on the left shoulder of I-75 near the I-10 interchange, officials said.
At about 3:20 p.m., while traveling near the I-75 and I-10 interchange in Columbia County, officials said Bolding struck the right rear of the maintenance vehicle with the left front of the Ford Ranger.
Bolding then abandoned the vehicle a short distance later and fled on foot, officials said. Bolding was last seen along the southbound lanes of I-75.
Multiple agencies sent officers to the area. By 6:30 p.m., officials said Bolding was found and taken into custody near the 433 mile marker on the west side of I-75.
Bolding faces charges including hit-and-run, grand theft and additional charges by the Department of Corrections, officials said.