MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - A Miami Beach Police chase and takedown, after a city sanitation truck was stolen, ends in one of the most unlikely places, Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, and it was all caught on camera.
Body camera footage obtained exclusively by 7News shows the moment, on March 11, the stolen city of Miami Beach sanitation truck and its driver came to a stop at the jail in West Miami-Dade.
According to police, a City of Miami Beach Sanitation employee approached officers and stated that he had left his assigned work vehicle unattended at the 300 block of Lincoln Road and Collins Avenue to collect trash from the city garbage cans.
According to the victim, the suspect entered the work truck and fled the scene.
Police in cruisers and on all-terrain vehicles found themselves in a scramble to catch one of their city’s own vehicles.
The search for the suspect took them down streets like Washington Avenue and others.
The driver had left the City of Miami Beach and was heading westbound on the MacArthur Causeway before getting onto the 836 expressway and eventually exiting and ending up right where he would have been booked had he been arrested earlier.
“He’s stopping in front of TGK,” was heard through the police radio.
Although the suspect drove himself to jail, proper protocol still had to be followed.
There was a tense moment as the scene extended onto adjacent 36th street, and all eyes and guns were on that Miami Beach pickup truck. The officers had guns drawn, feet from where inmates get released.
Alexis Lopez appeared to be known to the officers, as he was out on bond at the time for an armed bank robbery.
After the apprehension, police celebrated after they traveled through multiple cities during the pursuit that ended safely.
“Hey, legendary, legendary! Listen, let’s get back to the city and do our thing, all right,” said an officer.
Police also mentioned in their report, they had to cut their lights and maintain a safe distance as they followed, only tuning on the lights when it was safe to do so, near TGK.
Lopez remains in jail with multiple felony cases pending.
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