Cops Trick Car Thief Into Driving To Police Headquarters

When court documents belonging to a convicted auto thief are found inside a recently recovered stolen vehicle, folks in law enforcement circles call that a clue.

The St. Petersburg Police Department recently came across such a case and the lucky investigative breaks kept on coming.

According to the agency, officers found an abandoned Infiniti near 13th Avenue South and 18th Street South on Oct. 4. The car had been reported stolen by its Placido Bayou owner. Inside the vehicle, officers happened to come across a packet of court documents.

Upon further inspection, officers determined the documents didn’t belong to the car’s owner. Instead, they happened to have the name “Carnell Eugeon Butler” on them, an email to media from the agency stated.

Putting two and two together, the officers decided to pay Butler, 18, a visit. While they were able to contact a relative, they couldn’t quite catch up with him.

On Oct. 6, a Hyundai Sonata was stolen from another home in the Placido Bayou area. Not realizing the second theft was connected, police worked out a plan to get Butler, a convicted auto thief, to come to them.

Putting the plan into motion, a St. Petersburg detective left a message at Butler’s home. He said he wanted to make arrangements to meet up with him to return personal items that were seized during a June auto theft arrest for which Butler was serving probation.

Clearly wanting his possessions, “Butler called the detective back and arranged to come to headquarters to pick up personal items from his June arrest,” the email said.

When Butler arrived at headquarters, the detective quickly arrested him in relation to the Infiniti’s theft. During a routine search, the detective happened to find keys to that stolen Sonata in Butler’s pocket, the email said.

“Acting on a hunch, the detective found the Sonata parked a block away from police headquarters,” the email said. “Butler had driven the stolen car to the police department.”

Police also recovered a stolen bicycle form Butler’s home.

As for Butler, he now faces a host of criminal charges. In addition to violation of probation, he faces a count of burglary of an occupied dwelling and two grand theft auto charges.

Butler was being held in the Pinellas County Jail Thursday without bond.

Booking photo courtesy of the Pinellas County Jail