WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — A homeless man is facing several charges after stealing a police car with a K-9 inside and crashing into multiple cars after burglarizing an Amscot Financial in Winter Haven on Saturday, officials with the Winter Haven Police Department said.
What You Need To Know
- 20-year-old Menylek Jarrett is facing several charges after stealing a police car with a K-9 inside and crashing into multiple cars after burglarizing an Amscot Financial
- One person in a crashed car was taken to the hospital with head pain and no other injuries were reported to civilians or officers, and K-9 Logan is safe, officials said
- Jarrett was taken to Winter Haven Health for treatment and then booked into the Polk County Jail
One person in a crashed car was taken to the hospital with head pain and no other injuries were reported to civilians or officers, and K-9 Logan is safe, officials said.
Authorities said that on Saturday at around 9:20 p.m., a 911 call was received from employees at Amscot, where three employees were inside of the business when a rock was thrown through a front glass door.
Twenty-year-old Menylek Jarrett entered the business and threw another rock at the teller glass, police said, which failed to shatter. Jarrett attempted to enter the door of the teller area and when he couldn’t get in, he exited the business, according to deputies.
Winter Haven Police Department officials said that officers arriving on the scene were unaware that Jarrett had exited the business, and as officers entered the business, Jarrett broke the driver’s side window of a sergeant's locked patrol car where K-9 Logan was secured in the back.
Officials said that Jarrett drove off towards the intersection of 8th Street and Havendale Boulevard, where he crashed into multiple cars. The patrol car was disabled and Jarrett left and started running towards Inman Park, authorities said.
Additional officers responding to the scene chased Jarrett on foot, ultimately utilizing a taser and taking him into custody, according to police.
Jarrett was taken to Winter Haven Health for treatment and then booked into the Polk County Jail, officials said. He is currently being held with no bond.
Jarrett is being charged with one count of business burglary, one count of grand theft-motor vehicle, one count of attempted burglary of conveyance, one count of tampering with a police K-9, one count of resisting without violence, one count of leaving the scene of a crash with injury, one count of reckless driving and one count of no valid DL-never issued, police said.