Man arrested after unattended Miami patrol car stolen with officer's rifle, vest inside

A man was arrested Tuesday afternoon after police said he stole an unattended City of Miami-marked patrol car outside a convenience store and drove it home with an officer's rifle and bulletproof vest still inside. 

Rodne Joseph, 36, faces multiple felony charges, including grand theft of a vehicle, grand theft of a firearm, armed burglary of an unoccupied conveyance, and depriving an officer of means of protection or communication, according to his arrest report. 

According to the report, the theft happened around 1:20 p.m. Tuesday near the intersection of Northeast Second Avenue and Northeast 55th Terrace.

A City of Miami police sergeant parked his marked patrol cruiser outside the store and went inside. When he came back a few minutes later, he discovered the vehicle was missing.  

The sergeant canvassed the immediate area and broadcast a radio alert notifying surrounding units that his vehicle had just been stolen. Within minutes, the report said the department's Real Time Crime Center tracked the stolen cruiser traveling north along Northeast Second Avenue and Northeast 77th Street.

By 2:14 p.m., a "be on the lookout" alert was issued by multiple law enforcement agencies, describing a suspect wearing a dark shirt and light blue jeans.

How the suspect was detained

 At around 3 p.m., a North Miami police officer spotted the marked cruiser parked and unoccupied in front of a home at Northeast 137th Street and 5th Avenue, roughly around five miles from where it was taken, the report states. Auto-theft detectives from the City of Miami Police Department responded to secure the scene.

The report noted that convenience store surveillance video, reviewed by investigators, showed a man matching the broadcast description walking southbound along Northeast Second Avenue toward the cruiser's driver's door before the car was seen pulling away and heading northbound.   

At approximately 3:15 p.m., an officer canvassing the area near Northeast Fifth Avenue and Northeast 137th Street spotted a man matching the surveillance-camera description walking toward the recovered police cruiser.

When the officer stopped him at the home, Joseph spontaneously admitted to taking the vehicle, according to the affidavit.   

"I saw the police car there so I took it, I parked it right there because I live there," Joseph told the officer, pointing toward the cruiser, police reported.

Police confirmed that the sergeant's department-issued rifle and tactical ballistic vest remained inside the patrol car when it was stolen. The vehicle was impounded and towed to the city auto pound for forensic processing, according to the report. 

Before being booked, Joseph was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital for treatment of minor, pre-existing injuries to his hand that were present prior to his arrest, investigators said.

His bond has not yet been set as of Wednesday morning.