TAMPA, FL — A routine traffic stop spiraled into what the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office is calling “the most audacious act of stupidity we’ve seen this quarter” when a 29-year-old man allegedly stole the patrol car that was actively being used to arrest him.

Backseat Driver Takes the Wheel

Ricky Dale Fontaine was pulled over on East Hillsborough Avenue shortly after 10 p.m. Wednesday for driving with expired tags. During the stop, Deputy Marcus Tilden discovered an outstanding warrant for Fontaine’s arrest related to an unpaid court fine from a 2024 shoplifting charge. Tilden placed Fontaine in the back of the cruiser and returned to Fontaine’s vehicle to conduct an inventory search.

What happened next has been described in the official incident report as “genuinely baffling.” Fontaine, who had not been handcuffed because Tilden deemed him “cooperative and non-threatening,” reportedly climbed through the partition window, settled into the driver’s seat, and drove off in the fully marked patrol vehicle — lights, sirens, dash cam, and all.

“I turned around and my car was just gone. With him in it. The man I was arresting drove away in my car. I had to call dispatch and say those words out loud.” — Deputy Marcus Tilden, HCSO

The cruiser’s GPS led officers to a Wawa parking lot approximately three miles away, where Fontaine was found sitting in the driver’s seat eating a hoagie he had apparently purchased via the drive-thru of an adjacent Checkers — in the stolen patrol car. He reportedly told arresting officers, “I was gonna bring it back. I just needed a sandwich first. You can’t arrest somebody on an empty stomach, that’s inhumane.”

Fontaine was re-arrested — this time in handcuffs — and booked into the Orient Road Jail on charges of grand theft auto, escape, and the original outstanding warrant. His booking photo on JailReport.lol shows what investigators have confirmed is Checkers sauce on his chin. Bond has been set at $15,000.