Missouri man accused of stealing police cruiser during pursuit

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LAKE OZARK, Mo. (AP) – A Columbia man is jailed in Miller County after he allegedly rammed one police cruiser and stole another cruiser before being arrested as he tried to hide under a dock at the Lake of the Ozarks, police said.

Kenneth Rybolt, 26, is facing five felony counts and one misdemeanor after the chase on Saturday in Miller and Camden counties.

Lake Ozark police said when officers responded to a shoplifting call on Saturday, the suspect rammed a police car and drove off before hitting another vehicle and crashing the car, KRCG-TV reported.

He was apprehended and placed in the back of a cruiser with his ankles shackled and hands cuffed behind his back but managed to drive off in the cruiser, police said.

A Porto Cima resident later reported the cruiser had crashed and the suspect tried to steal his car, police said.

Police said Rybolt eventually tried to steal a personal watercraft from an unoccupied home but was recaptured when a Lake Ozark officer jumped into the lake and found him – still shackled and cuffed – in the water.

No one was injured during the incident, said Lake Ozark Police Chief Gary Launderville.

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