Car theft suspect found 170 miles away, sleeping in the back seat, police say

The auxiliary Florida Highway Patrol troopers were on Interstate 95 — looking for broken down vehicles or stranded drivers — when they found a stolen car and the alleged thief asleep in the back seat.

Auxiliary FHP troopers Casper Johnson and Tim Martin came upon the 2019 Chevrolet Malibu late Sunday morning on the shoulder of I-95 near Oak Hill, according agency arrest report.

Oak Hill is in Volusia County, north of Titusville.

Sleeping in the back seat was Samuel Choisie, 20.

A check of the car’s tag revealed it had been rented at Palm Beach International Airport and the woman who to an rented it reported the vehicle had been stolen just before midnight Saturday in Delray Beach.

After the car was confirmed to be stolen, a regular-duty FHP trooper at the scene took Choisie into custody as auxiliary troopers don’t have arrest powers.

According to the arrest report, Choisie denied knowing the car was stolen and said his sister’s friend had loaned it to him, although he couldn’t provide the friend’s name.

In Delray Beach, the 38-year-old Lantana woman who rented the car told police it was stolen from outside a small food store at 207 SE Second Avenue.

According to a police incident report, the woman said her boyfriend was inside the store and she was resting in the reclining passenger’s seat, with the car running, when someone opened the driver’s side door and got in. She scrambled out of the car in fear and her boyfriend ran over trying to fight off the car thief and had his foot run over as the car sped away. He wasn’t seriously hurt.

Inside the recovered car in Central Florida, investigators found the woman’s purse, wallet and cellphone, police said.

Additionally, her boyfriend was later able to identify Choisie in a photo lineup.

Choisie was booked into the Volusia County Jail on a charge of dealing in stolen property and was being held on a bond of $2,500, records show.