Cabbie aids cop after injured man steals patrol car

Thursday, Nov. 19, 1998 | 11:06 a.m.

Quick, cabbie, follow that police car!

A local cab driver came to the assistance of a police officer early today after a motorist, injured in a three-car accident at 2112 Western Ave., stole a patrol car while the officer was helping other injured people, Metro Police said.

The cabbie picked up the officer chased the black-and-white unit for two minutes before the patrol car skidded over a median and crashed into a wall at Highland Drive and Sahara Avenue shortly before 4 a.m., Metro Police said.

The string of events started with a simple accident investigation.

"The officer had arrived in front of Cheetah's nightclub and found a three-car accident with injuries, so he started to administer aid because medical had not yet arrived," Metro spokesman Steve Merriwether said.

"The officer helped one bleeding man, then sat him down on a curb to help the others. When the officer turned his back, the man he had just helped got into his patrol car and took off."

A cab driver waiting at the nightclub for a fare saw what had happened and drove up to the officer and told him to jump in, Merriwether said.

The man who crashed the patrol car into the wall suffered what police called minor to moderate injuries and was taken to University Medical Center.

Upon his discharge from the hospital, he was to be taken to the Clark County Detention Center and booked on charges including grand larceny auto and felony driving under the influence, Merriwether said.

The patrol car suffered what police called moderate to extensive damage to its rear and side.

The officer spent the last three hours of his shift filling out extensive paperwork on both accidents.

The incident began about 3:50 a.m. when a car, driven by the man who police said later stole the patrol car, struck from behind two cars that were waiting at a stop light on Western Avenue.

The names of the officer, cab driver, car-theft suspect and other injured people were not available this morning.