Suspect tries using motorized shopping cart from Walmart to escape, Florida cops say

A bizarre police chase played out on a six-lane Florida highway when a felony suspect chose an electronic shopping cart from Walmart as his getaway car, investigators say.

Surprisingly, the 35-year-old man got nearly a mile away from the store before being pulled over and arrested, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said in an affidavit.

The odd pursuit started around noon July 17, when a 911 caller reported a “suspicious person” driving an electronic shopping cart along U.S. 98 North in Lakeland, the sheriff’s office said.

“Deputies pursued (the man) as he attempted his getaway. ... (He) hit speeds of about 2 mph on the scooter before deputies caught up to him. Not exactly a high speed chase,” the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post.

“Deputies found several packages of jewelry and hand-held game devices. The investigation showed that (he) had just stolen all of the items from the nearby Walmart — including the scooter.”

The cart, with a value of just over $1,300, proved to be the most valuable thing taken from the store, officials said. The battery-operated carts are reserved for people with disabilities and travel at around 2 mph, experts say.

Deputies charged the man with “grand theft, felony petit theft (due to prior theft convictions), and unlawful possession of a shopping cart.”

“We avoided the temptation to charge fleeing to elude,” the sheriff’s office said.

Lakeland is about a 35-mile drive northeast from Tampa.

This story was originally published July 30, 2024 at 7:32 AM with the headline "Suspect tries using motorized shopping cart from Walmart to escape, Florida cops say."