JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – A 63-year-old Ponte Vedra Beach man was arrested Friday after police said he drove off in a marked Jacksonville Beach Police Department K-9 patrol truck that had been parked in the department’s secured back lot.
Jacksonville Beach police reviewed surveillance footage that showed the man arrive at the station about 8:06 p.m., enter the secured rear lot through an open gate and get into a marked 2021 Ford F-150 patrol truck containing a department K-9, police said.
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The footage shows him leave the rear lot, return to the department’s front parking area and park for about 13 minutes before driving away.
Officers located the truck and conducted a traffic stop about 8:32 p.m. at 1 9th Street South, taking the man into custody without incident, the report said. Police said department-issued firearms were in the vehicle when it was taken.
The department’s K-9, Furyk, a Belgian Malinois valued at about $15,000, was recovered, along with the patrol truck, which police estimated at roughly $40,000, according to the report.
After being read his Miranda rights, the man acknowledged he had trespassed on police property and taken the vehicle, the arrest report said.
Police noted signs of intoxication and listed cocaine as a drug of abuse in the report; investigators also said the man’s daughter had recently reported a concerning decline in his mental condition.
He was booked into the county jail on charges that include burglary of a conveyance while armed, theft of a motor vehicle, grand theft and trespassing on posted law-enforcement property, according to police