DEXTER (NEWS CENTER Maine) — How was it possible for a prisoner in handcuffs steal a Dexter Police cruiser? Days after the theft, police are providing answers.
Twenty-two-year-old Tyler Tibbetts is accused of stealing the cruiser last Friday. Police arrested him several hours later after a search across Penobscot County. On Monday, Dexter Police offered a more comprehensive explanation of the events leading up to the theft.
Dexter Police said they learned from corrections officials on Friday morning that Tibbetts, whose probation had been revoked, was staying at 872 Garland Road. The department sent an officer to help take him into custody. Police found Tibbetts at the home, and in the process of arresting him, he was led into the back of the cruiser with his hands cuffed behind his back.
Police said the car was left running to protect Tibbetts's well-being by running the air conditioning. While the officer attended to Tibbetts's girlfriend and a young child, the car was left unattended.
Police said Tibbetts took the opportunity to twist his body until his cuffed hands were in front of himself, and then squeezed head-first into the front compartment through an opening less than a foot wide.
Police found the abandoned on Parkman Road in Garland. They shifted their search for a different stolen vehicle as they continued to look for Tibbetts. Police were back on his trail after a sighting in Dover. The chase ended in a crash on Route 15. Tibbetts was hurt and airlifted to the hospital by LifeFlight.
Dexter Police ended their explanation of the incident by deferring further investigation into the theft of the cruiser to the Maine State Police.
