A 33-year-old man is accused of stealing a Little Rock patrol vehicle moments after he was released from jail, police said Thursday.
An officer who was assisting in the booking of an inmate at the Pulaski County jail just before 2:40 a.m. returned to where the vehicle, a Ford Explorer, had been parked and discovered it missing, according to an incident report from Little Rock police.
Video surveillance showed Cordell Coleman, 33, of North Little Rock, who had just been released, get into the officer’s vehicle and drive away, police said.
According to the report, communications tracked the vehicle and found it was parked in North Little Rock.
North Little Rock officers responded and took Coleman into custody, police said. He was then transported to the Pulaski County Jail, where he was booked on a felony theft of property charge, police said.
The sheriff’s office said Coleman wasn’t in the jail roster late Thursday morning.
The vehicle did not immediately appear to have been damaged during the theft, authorities said.