Tulsa Men Spot Client's Stolen Car, Capture Chase On Dash-Cam

Thursday, October 22nd 2015, 11:01 pm

By: News On 6

Three Tulsa men said they were at the right spot at the right time when they chased down a suspected car thief and led police to make an arrest.

The whole thing happened entirely by luck, and a dash-cam caught it all on video.

Joseph, Gabe and Kenneth own a Swedish auto shop called Svenskraft. One of their customers told them she had to cancel a service appointment because her car was stolen.

The very next day, the three men were headed out to lunch when they spotted the stolen Volvo; the paper tags and a missing fog light matched the car’s description, so they cut right to a chase.

Watch The Full Video Here

"I can't believe this," you hear them say in the video.

They called their client, Shelby, who told them her car was still missing and that she wasn't driving the car. So, the three decided to tail the driver for a bit.

"It's definitely your car, like 100 percent. Yeah, she knows we're following her now. And she's trying to run from us," they say in the video.

Joseph Wallis said, "That's where I think she really knew someone was following her, then we started going through some of the streets between Peoria and Riverside."

Wallis was sitting in the backseat and calling police while the driver of the stolen car took them up and down Riverside, in and out of neighborhoods all while going way above the posted speed limits and running stop signs.

The driver even gets on the highway to try to lose them, but the guys follow closely behind, telling police dispatchers where they were the whole time.

Even when the driver makes a last-second exit onto Lewis, she still can't shake them.

Finally, after a 15-minute-long chase, she pulls into a Hobby Lobby parking lot where police officers catch up and make the arrest.

They booked 26-year-old Elizabeth Newton into jail on several counts, including possessing a stolen car, speeding, driving with a suspended license, no insurance and resisting arrest.

Wallis said, "I guess it's the definition of serendipity. It happened. In any other situation a person might decide not to do that, but given the circumstances, who we are and who the customer was, we really wanted to see the car back in her possession."

Newton is still in jail.

Since Tuesday, the full dash-cam video already has more than 15,000 hits on YouTube.

Tulsa Police said they do not advise doing this. It's better to call them and let them know what's going on than to risk your own life by tracking down a suspect yourself.