A Mobile man was arrested Tuesday afternoon after police said he led officers on a pursuit in a stolen car that ended with the vehicle in Dog River.
According to the Mobile Police Department, officers attempted to pull over Bruce Smith, 19, at about 3:16 p.m. after recognizing that the vehicle he was driving had been reported stolen. The car had been stolen the day before, Aug. 3, from the 6700 block of Ziegler Boulevard, police said.
“The driver led officers on a pursuit that ended at the end of Dog River Court when the vehicle entered the water,” a written statement from MPD said.
The arrest
Smith was taken into custody after the vehicle went into the river and booked into the Mobile County Metro Jail. He has been charged with first-degree receiving stolen property and attempting to elude.
A juvenile passenger was also arrested and taken to the Strickland Youth Center, police said.
What the charges mean
First-degree receiving stolen property is a felony in Alabama, typically charged when a person possesses a stolen vehicle or other property of significant value. Attempting to elude is an additional charge that applies when a driver flees from police, and it can add penalties that stack on top of the underlying offense.
Pursuits like Tuesday’s end in a range of ways — sometimes with the driver giving up, sometimes in a crash, and occasionally, as here, with the vehicle ending up in the water. Dog River winds through south Mobile County and flows into Mobile Bay, and the streets along its banks end at boat launches and dead-ends that can leave a fleeing driver with nowhere to go.
Stolen vehicles in Mobile
Vehicle theft remains one of the more common property crimes in the city, and police routinely urge residents to lock their vehicles, remove keys and avoid leaving cars running unattended, even briefly in a driveway. Stolen vehicles are often used in other crimes before they are recovered, which is why police treat chases that begin with a stolen-car flag as a public safety priority.
Officers consider weather, traffic, speeds and the reason for the pursuit when deciding whether to continue one, balancing the seriousness of the offense against the risk to the public.
The investigation into the incident is ongoing, and no injuries were reported.