Wednesday, June 23, 1999 | 2:19 a.m.
For years the Boulder City Police Department has placed a patrol car in various sections of town with Lt. Dan - a plastic dummy - in the driver's seat to fool drivers into slowing down. Lt. Dan wears a police uniform and hat.
On June 11, three men out for a night of drinking broke the window to the patrol car and took Lt. Dan, Boulder City Police Sgt. Jim Reed said Wednesday. As they were pulling Lt. Dan from the car, his head fell off.
Reed said the men then put Lt. Dan into the back of their truck under a spare tire.
But when they attempted to drive away, the wheels of their vehicle got stuck in the dirt.
When two police officers arrived, they noticed Lt. Dan in the truck.
"He said, 'Help me, Help me,' " Reed said.
Timothy Smitherman, 21, his brother Jeffrey Smitherman, 18, and Dustin Belinski, 19, all of North Las Vegas, were arrested and charged with burglary, damage to a police vehicle and grand theft for taking Lt. Dan.
After a little mending, Lt. Dan is now back on duty.
The plastic dummy is nicknamed Lt. Dan because it has no legs just like the character in the movie "Forest Gump."
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