Burglar steals, totals police car

SAPULPA, Okla. -- A burglary suspect led police on a chase Thursday in a stolen police car before ditching it in a burst of flames and escaping. <br><br>It all began around 3:30 a.m. when two men used

Thursday, August 10th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

SAPULPA, Okla. -- A burglary suspect led police on a chase Thursday in a stolen police car before ditching it in a burst of flames and escaping.

It all began around 3:30 a.m. when two men used a pickup truck to smash into a Slick convenience store, Capt. Kevin Diehl said. Then, they went to Sapulpa, where they smashed into another store and put the automated bank machine in the back of their truck.

Both stores were closed at the time of the burglaries. No one was injured.

An officer caught up to the pair in west Sapulpa and was arresting one of the men when the other jumped into the running police car and drove off. After a chase through town, the suspect drove the car over a bluff around 6 a.m. It burst into flames. The man escaped on foot.

Authorities searched the area with tracking dogs for a couple of hours without success.