A marked sheriff’s cruiser went to a Toledo repair shop for maintenance. What allegedly happened before it came back involved another car, a red light, and considerably more acceleration than routine service required.
A driver on Monroe Street spotted the Lucas County Sheriff’s Office cruiser sitting beside another vehicle at a traffic light. She had already noticed the other car being driven recklessly and initially figured the deputy in the marked unit might be about to deal with it.
Instead, when the light changed, both vehicles took off at high speed, according to 13 Action News. The witness recorded the scene and later filed a complaint with the sheriff’s office.
There was no deputy behind the wheel of the cruiser. The sheriff’s office traced the vehicle to a repair shop where it had been dropped off for maintenance hours earlier, and a 22-year-old employee was eventually charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle.
Shop Detour
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The employee, identified by 13 Action News as Matthew Means, was test-driving the cruiser on Sept. 8 while working for the repair shop.
Video obtained by the station shows the marked unit lined up beside the other vehicle on Monroe Street at Collingwood. Both accelerated after the traffic light turned green.
Capt. Robert Chromik told the station the witness had been relieved when she initially noticed the sheriff’s vehicle because she thought the reckless driver she had seen was about to encounter law enforcement.
Detectives instead followed the cruiser back to the shop.
“Unfortunately it was one of their youngest repair techs,” Chromik told 13 Action News.
Qualifying Laps
The episode put the cruiser on a stretch of Monroe Street near the Toledo Museum of Art, where Chromik pointed to pedestrian traffic and children as part of the danger created by the alleged race.
Nobody was hurt.
Charging documents cited by 13 Action News say Means admitted he had been driving the cruiser. The documents also referenced the video and witness statements.
Chromik said Means was honest when confronted, but described what happened as a “very poor choice.”
The captain had another description for the drive: “qualifying laps on Monroe Street like it was Talladega.”
Means was charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle on Sept. 15. He was not booked into jail and instead received a summons to appear in court, according to the station. The case was continued until Sept. 25.
The charge is an allegation, and Means has not been convicted.
Exhibit A
The Lucas County Sheriff’s Office later decided subtlety was unnecessary.
In a Facebook post, the agency told repair-shop employees that receiving a marked unit for maintenance was not an invitation to “spiritually transform into Ricky Bobby.”
The post noted that a member of the public had recorded the alleged race, dubbing the resulting footage “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Exhibit A.”
The sheriff’s office said the repair shop cooperated after detectives arrived. Chromik separately told 13 Action News that the employer handled the situation internally and that the department was pleased with its response.
Investigators also identified the owner of the second car, 13 Action News reported, although they had not established who was driving it.