Illinois tourist gets DUI after stealing Key West police cruiser, cops say

KEY WEST, Fla. — A man from suburban Chicago is facing a litany of charges in the Florida Keys after authorities said he drunkenly stole a police cruiser while visiting Key West over the Memorial Day weekend.

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According to the Key West Police Department, the incident happened on Saturday in and around the Key West Bight Marina.

A KWPD report states that John Mack, 38, of La Grange, Illinois, had been drinking at Dante’s Key West Pool Bar & Restaurant, located at 955 Caroline St., and took the patrol car from an officer working an off-duty detail there.

Police said surveillance video from just before 6:20 p.m. showed Mack “walking out of the pool bar with two friends and standing a couple of feet away from the patrol vehicle,” then opening the door and getting inside. Authorities said he put the car in drive, almost hitting two of the other men.

The report states a security guard got the officer’s attention and other KWPD officers responded to the bar as Mack drove the cruiser around the marina parking lot.

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Authorities said they later found Mack outside of the nearby Boat House Bar & Grill. Police said he claimed he had had three to six Corona beers.

Police said he would fail a field sobriety test and sustained cuts from a fence after resisting arrest. They said he also refused a breathalyzer test.

On top of it all, police said Mack shouldn’t have been driving any vehicle, much less a police cruiser. They said he only had an Illinois identification card, not a valid driver’s license.

Officers arrested Mack on charges of DUI, burglary, grand theft, grand theft of law enforcement equipment, reckless driving, refusal to submit to DUI testing and resisting arrest without violence.

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He no longer appeared in the active Florida Keys jail roster as of Tuesday.