NEW ORLEANS — Police caught the man accused of stealing a St. Charles Parish Sheriff's office SUV and leading police on a chase into New Orleans.
According to police, 31-year-old Michael Stevens John was caught when he walked into a New Orleans convenience store that detectives were observing around 8 p.m. Tuesday, SCPS officials said.
He was detained without incident and booked into the St. Charles Parish jail for theft of a motor vehicle, theft, aggravated flight from an officer and aggravated escape. More charges from other agencies may be forthcoming, officials said.
It all started at the Pilot Gas Station on Airline Highway around 5 a.m. on Feb. 3.
Deputies were sent there to check out a suspicious vehicle. According to the sheriff's office, they found John in the car possibly shooting up heroin.
Deputies say he tried to drive away, but crashed into a ditch. He was arrested, handcuffed and loaded into a patrol vehicle.
A few minutes later, a deputy watched as his police unit sped away down Airline with the suspect at the wheel.
Deputies chased him into Jefferson Parish where one lawman crashed into another vehicle near David Drive.
Deputies lost sight of the stolen police cruiser near Xavier University in New Orleans. It resurfaced a few hours later in the 700 block of Toledano in the city.
Security camera video shows the driver get out of the vehicle shortly after 6 a.m. as he appears to wipe away his fingerprints. He then takes off running toward the Walmart on Tchoupitoulas Street.
Detectives were staking out an area in New Orleans that John was known to frequent when they caught him in the convenient store Tuesday night.
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