Man tries burglarizing unmarked police car — with detective in it, Nashville cops say

An 18-year-old saw bad go to worse when he tried to burglarize an unmarked police car — with a detective in the front seat, according to the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department.

It happened around 10:15 p.m. Saturday, April 9, in a parking lot near the intersection of Sixth Avenue North and Monroe Street, the department said in a news release.

Detectives from the Violent Crimes Initiative were staked out in the area (for reasons unexplained) when they noticed someone “looking into cars parked in a gravel lot and pulling on door handles.”

“When (he) approached the detective’s vehicle, he pulled on the rear and driver’s side door handles before realizing that the car was occupied,” police officials said.

The detective’s reaction was not mentioned in the news release, but the startled teen took off running. He was caught “a short time later” and things only got worse from there, officials said.

“Detectives recovered a .380 caliber pistol that (he) had dropped prior to his arrest,” officials said. “The gun had been reported stolen on April 4 from an unlocked car parked on Hume Street.”

The suspect, who is from Nashville, faces charges of “attempted burglary of a motor vehicle, theft of a firearm, and evading arrest,” officials said. He was freed on a $12,500 bond, according to the release.

This story was originally published April 11, 2022 at 2:03 PM with the headline "Man tries burglarizing unmarked police car — with detective in it, Nashville cops say."