Police: Man steals Jeep from tire shop where he took a stolen Cadillac for repair

A man who dropped off a stolen Cadillac at a repair shop is accused of stealing a second car while he was at the business waiting for a new tire.

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Wendell Thompson, 34, of Pensacola, Florida, is charged with two counts of vehicle theft, fleeing and eluding, resisting an officer, fraud and damage to property, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.

Thompson is accused of stealing a family member’s Cadillac Escalade last week and then ramming the car through a storage enclosure, WEAR-TV reported.

“While driving the stolen vehicle, he rammed it through a storage enclosure at the Hadji Shriners Temple, damaging the tire,” the sheriff’s office says in a release.

Thompson then drove the Cadillac to a nearby tire shop where “he stole a black Jeep,” deputies said, as he was waiting to get the Cadillac’s tire repaired.

A short time later, deputies located the black Jeep and saw Thompson try to flee. Police used a PIT maneuver to stop Thompson, the press release said. A PIT maneuver is a law enforcement pursuit tactic in which a pursuing vehicle forces another vehicle to turn sideways abruptly, causing the driver to lose control and stop.

“Thompson refused to exit the vehicle,” according to a release from the ECSO. “With the assistance of nearby citizens, he was taken into custody.”

Thompson is being held in Escambia County Jail on a $24,000 bond.