Squad Car Found, Again

An unmarked Orange County sheriff’s car stolen twice in as many weeks has been found again -- in the same city where it was recovered last time.

The white four-door 2001 Ford Crown Victoria sedan had been missing for the second time since Sunday. It was discovered by San Bernardino police parked at an undisclosed location in that city about 5:40 p.m. Thursday, said Lt. Hans Strand of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

Strand said he didn’t know whether the car turned up at the same apartment complex where it had been found after being reported stolen the first time, on Dec. 1.

“There was no damage, and nothing was missing,” he said. San Bernardino police “had been watching to see if a suspect would return, but no suspect did, so we requested that the car be towed to their impound yard to be fingerprinted and processed for forensics.”

Strand said the car, normally kept at an unsecured area of the parking lot at Theo Lacy Jail on the City Drive South in Orange, would probably be returned to Orange County today.

Strand declined, however, to speculate whether the car would be returned to Theo Lacy.