Suspect in theft of JSO car had called police to say he was a witness

A man who reported being a witness to the theft of a police car, has now been arrested for the crime.

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office says an officer reported his cruiser stolen around 8 PM Tuesday. He had stopped at the King Food Store on Main Street about twenty minutes earlier, leaving his JSO vehicle secured while doing a property check with the business owner, and he came outside to find out the car was gone.

The arrest report says 23-year-old Michael Planes had called JSO to report he witnessed a police car being stolen. Around 8:39 PM, the cruiser was found at an apartment complex on Palm Lake Drive on the Northside, which is Planes’ address. The arrest report says a key to Planes’ apartment was found in the stolen cruiser, and several items taken from the car- including a police-issued rifle and ammunition- were found in Planes’ apartment.

The report says that Planes later confessed to the theft. He’s been arrested for grand theft of equipment from a law enforcement vehicle and theft of a motor vehicle.