Police arrest man accused of stealing police car a second time

SHOREWOOD, Wis. (WISN) - In Wisconsin, police arrested a man they say stole a squad car, as he awaited trial for stealing a different squad car.

Video from the Shorewood Police Department shows the moment the stolen squad drives right past the officers while they were conducting a traffic stop Tuesday evening.

“Ah, someone just stole my squad,” an unknown police officer is heard saying in the video.

Even the man they’d just put in the back of the other squad saw it and commented.

“Someone just stole that police car,” the man is heard saying.

Within minutes police flooded the area, finding the squad car just a few blocks away and the suspect out of the car.

A bystander reported seeing the suspect take off and, about ten minutes later, Milwaukee officers found the suspect, identified as 34-year-old Daniel Barton, trying to hide inside a gym.

He was then taken into custody.

It’s not the first time Barton has been arrested for stealing a squad car, according to police.

“It’s that same person that stole an MPD squad before,” another unknown officer said.

He was arrested in December after a Milwaukee officer said Barton stole his squad car during a traffic stop.

There’s no video from inside the Shorewood squad, but according to the complaint from the Milwaukee incident, dash cameras captured the suspect “giggling as he drives off,” before abandoning the squad and running away. That time, he was found hiding in a garbage can.

Barton was charged with misdemeanor car theft for the Milwaukee incident and was free awaiting trial at the time of his arrest Tuesday.