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Thief Takes NYPD Squad Car on Joyride After Officer Leaves Keys Inside

By  Aidan Gardiner Ben Fractenberg and Eddie Small | October 24, 2016 8:46am | Updated on October 24, 2016 2:37pm

THE BRONX —  A man stole a marked NYPD squad car on an ill-fated joyride after the officer in charge of it left it parked with the keys inside, officials said.

The thief, who can be seen in surveillance footage released Sunday, stole the police car — which had been left unlocked, with the keys inside — inside the parking lot of the 50th Precinct at 3450 Kingsbridge Ave., near West 236th Street, about 6:20 a.m., NYPD officials said.

A police officer had left the car there assuming an officer on the midnight shift would take it, according to Police Commissioner James O'Neill.

"That didn't happen," O'Neill said.

The thief drove about two miles south before crashing the NYPD vehicle into four parked cars outside 2300 Sedgwick Ave., near West Fordham Road.

He then hopped out of the squad car and walked past a shuttered shop at 2304 Sedgwick Ave., where he was captured on video, police said.

He got into a black Lincoln Town Car going west on Fordham Road, police said.

The suspect was last seen wearing a gray hoodie under a black jacket, police said.

Both the officer who left the car in the parking lot and the desk sergeant on duty at the time will be disciplined, according to O'Neill.

Anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS (8477).