Abdul Hakim, 43, of Greenbelt, Maryland had just been arrested on domestic abuse charges on Saturday morning when he decided to steal a police car.
While handcuffed and waiting for an officer to move him from the Department of Corrections in Hyattsville to the Department of Corrections in Upper Marlboro, he stole the idling police cruiser.
Hakim asked an officer to loosen his handcuffs, then moved from the passenger seat into the driver’s seat, and took off, prompting a chase.
No one was injured, but Hakim managed to drive the car through Hyattsville, hitting a number of other cars before eventually crashing the car in a park near 24th Avenue and Lyndon Street. He ran off, but police finally caught him a few blocks later.
The Prince George’s County Police noted that in addition to the domestic abuse charge, Hakim will also be charged with assault, resisting arrest, reckless endangerment, motor vehicle theft and possibly more.
Hank Stawinski, the county police chief, said his department will review the idea of leaving a police car running for any reason.
Stawinski said he understood his officers’ “compassion” for Hakim and why they left the car running — so he could be warm on a cold day.
He called what Hakim did “discouraging.”
The map below shows the approximate location of where Hakim crashed the car.
