Police track down man who stole deputy’s patrol car

Published 4:27 pm Tuesday, July 28, 2015

A Snoqualmie man who took a joy ride in a deputy’s patrol car Saturday morning was arrested Saturday afternoon in North Bend.

Teddy Bell, 26, was arrested by a King County Sheriff’s deputy, for the first time Saturday, around 8:30 a.m., when the deputy responded to a report of a suspicious person in a vehicle at S.E. 79th Street and S.E. Reinig Road. Bell had warrants for his arrest on vandalism, drug paraphernalia and possession of stolen property charges, so the deputy detained him and placed him, handcuffed, in the back of his patrol vehicle.

While the deputy completed his report, outside of the vehicle, Bell slipped out of his cuffs, crawled into the front seat of the vehicle and drove off.

Police found the abandoned car later in the day in the Wilderness Rim neighborhood, where a witness had reported seeing a man in handcuffs. The vehicle was recovered and police used a helicopter and search dogs to locate Bell. He was found hiding under a pile of leaves, around 2 p.m., and was arrested.