Police found Kentucky man with a live grenade. He escaped detainment, stole a cop car

Jeremy Chisenhall
·2 min read

Kentucky police are searching for a man who allegedly escaped detainment Wednesday and stole a police cruiser after officers found a live grenade in his truck, according to state police.

The man also allegedly had guns and ammunition in his truck, which he left behind when he fled in a cop car. The Jenkins Police Department warned that Steven Tackett, the suspected cruiser thief, is armed and dangerous.

State Police Trooper Matthew Gayheart confirmed that the cruiser, which belonged to the local police chief, was found Wednesday abandoned in Pike County.

“As far as I know, other than just some scratches, the car was undamaged,” Gayheart said.

Tackett hadn’t taken any weapons from the vehicle, but he was still at-large Thursday afternoon. Officials previously advised local residents to call 911 if they saw Tackett rather than approach him.

Gayheart on Thursday said Tackett should still be “considered armed and dangerous just given the circumstances.” State police assisted Jenkins police with the investigation Wednesday after the police department found the suspected explosive.

Gayheart said officials from the Hazardous Devices Unit showed up at the scene and confirmed Tackett was in possession of a re-armed grenade. It was live and could have been detonated, Gayheart said. The responding officials disarmed the grenade and gave its components back to Jenkins police for further investigation.

Tackett, a Pike County resident, had allegedly been detained by Jenkins police in the parking lot of a Double Kwik gas station after the weapons were found in his vehicle. Tackett was in the back of the police chief’s cruiser when he escaped, Gayheart said.

“The dude was handcuffed behind his back, in the backseat of my cruiser, gate shut,” Jenkins Police Chief Hunter Holbrook told WYMT, a CBS affiliate in Eastern Kentucky. “So I don’t know if he kicked the cage out, got his arms in front of him and somehow weaseled through there or what. But we heard the horn honk and the cruiser takes off.”

The Jenkins Police Department was staying in charge of the investigation, Gayheart said.

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