HARRISONVILLE, Mo. -- The trustee was unloading a truck on Monday morning at the Cass County Sheriff's office when deputies said he walked away and what he is accused of doing next put a damper on one family's Thanksgiving plans.

Angie Beaslee, along with her husband and two children, drove from Maryland to Harrisonville to spend Thanksgiving with her grandparents, but they spent Monday morning standing by a creek watching a tow truck pull their car out of the water.

"It's not what we expected on our first day of vacation," she said. "Our car was stolen from my grandparents' driveway. We came back from walking the dogs and it was gone."

Beaslee's grandparents live on Pin Oak Drive near the Cass County jail That's where deputies said the person involved in the theft came from. After walking away from the jail, deputies said the man jumped in the car, found a spare key in the console and took off.

Officers were soon in pursuit. Deputies reported the man led them on a chase down a gravel road and he flew into the ditch. They said after the crash he ran on foot across a field, but they were able to catch him a short time later.

"Now he's back in jail and probably facing a lot more severe penalties than maybe for what he's here for to begin with," said Kevin Teiman, of the Cass County Sheriff's Department.

Deputies declined to release the man's name until he is charged on Tuesday, but they said he is a low-level offender whom they trusted.

"We'd never put anyone out there who would pose a risk to the community, like a violent offender," Teiman said.

Cass County officials said this is the first time a trustee has ever walked away from their jail.

As for the car? It's totaled. So instead of driving back to Maryland after the holiday, the Beaslees are going to fly.