Laramie County Sheriff’s deputies arrested two women after one of them managed to bypass a safety feature on a patrol vehicle and steal it, the agency reported Thursday.
At about 5:13 p.m. Wednesday, the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report that someone had stolen a white Ford F-250 truck from the 800 block of South Greeley Highway in Cheyenne.
Witnesses believed one person, later identified as Mandy Miller, had stolen the vehicle, says a statement LCSO reported Thursday to its Facebook page.
Deputies tracked the truck using its own internal tracking device to the Horse Creek Road area off Interstate 25 and made contact with the driver, later identified as Tianna Quin. Then she led them on a chase into the Scenic Ridge Drive area, the statement says.
There, the F-250’s rear tire blew out and it stopped, says the statement.
That’s when Quin got out of the truck and fled toward a home on foot.
Deputies worried that if she made it to the home, “she may commit additional crimes,” the report says.
Into A Patrol Car
Two deputies quickly scanned the stolen truck for more occupants while they chased Quin on foot, Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak told Cowboy State Daily on Thursday.
The vehicle had a lot of stuff in it and the original reporting party had said the stolen truck had one occupant, Kozak added.
The deputies didn’t see anyone and kept chasing the suspect.
“Unfortunately, though,” said Kozak, “there was a second suspect hiding in the car, obviously, who got out after the deputy passed.”
As a deputy arrested Quin, Miller got into his patrol car and drove off with it.
The car isn’t supposed to let that happen, said Kozak.
“When he puts (a patrol car) in park, we have a device on the cars that once it goes into park, you can’t put it into drive” without unlocking a secret safety device, the sheriff said. “Of course, you’re going to leave the car running when you get out and chase (suspects). That’s why we have them installed.”
For some reason, the lock device didn’t work in this car.
“We’re not sure why yet,” said Kozak.
Another Chase
Miller fled the scene in the stolen patrol vehicle and followed a resident of the Scenic Ridge area to that person’s home, says the report.
Miller displayed a firearm taken from the deputy’s vehicle and demanded the keys to the resident’s car, it adds.
“The resident complied, fearing for her safety,” reads the post.
The Laramie County Sheriff’s Office and the Wyoming Highway Patrol disseminated information about the stolen vehicle. Law enforcement found the vehicle “quickly” at the intersection of Wind Dancer and Iron Mountain Drive, the post says.
Again, Miller tried to flee, but WHP halted the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office vehicle with spike strips.
Miller and Quin were apprehended without further incident.
Authorities booked Miller into the Laramie County Detention Center on charges of driving under the influence of drugs; and on an Albany County warrant for drug possession — plus vehicle theft, aggravated robbery, eluding and “a host of other offenses pending,” the post says.
Authorities booked Quin on a Larimer County, Colorado, warrant for vehicle theft, and she has “multiple additional charges pending.”
All stolen vehicles have been recovered, as has the deputy’s weapon.
LCSO issued a statement of thanks to WHP, Laramie County dispatch and the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
