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Man arrested after stealing cruiser in Morgan County

BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. —A man was arrested after he tried to escape with a state police cruiser he stole after being handcuffed at a traffic stop Tuesday morning in Morgan County.

Troopers said 29-year-old Dustin Hinckel took off in the 2014 Ford Explorer Interceptor after he had been arrested on U.S. 522 in Berkeley Springs at around 9 a.m. WV State Police Captain Eric Whidmeyer said the arresting officer recognized Hinckel to be a wanted person out of Virginia. He said that as the trooper went to alert the driver that Hinckel would be arrested, he escaped in the cruiser.

“The trooper looked up and observed that Hinckel had pulled his handcuffs to the front of his body, jumped in the driver seat, and sped off from the traffic stop,” Whidmeyer said.

State police issued a ‘be-on-the-lookout’ notice for Hinckel at the time. Whidmeyer said a short pursuit followed, but they had plenty of assistance to be able to catch Hinckel.

“We had help from Maryland State Police with their helicopter,” he said. “Eventually with a saturation of police officers in the area, he came out of the woods. We had a short foot chase with him and he was taken into custody without incident.”

Hinckel is facing charges of felony escape, grand larceny and being a fugitive from justice.





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