UP cab owner: Customer tricked driver, stole vehicle and led police on high-speed chase

IRON MOUNTAIN, Mich. (WJMN) — A woman has been arrested after stealing a cab and leading police on a high-speed chase, according to the owner of the cab company.

The chase started before 6 p.m. CST Thursday evening at the Family Dollar in Norway, according to Edward Kacalo, owner of Kacalo City Cab.

That’s when Kacalo said one of his drivers picked up a regular customer, who then asked the driver to run into the Family Dollar on US-2 in Norway and grab her a bottle of water.

When the driver obliged, he returned to the parking lot to find his vehicle and the woman nowhere to be seen. Then the driver called Kacalo to alert him and law enforcement became involved soon after, leading to a high-speed chase.

Kacalo, who said he had been in touch with law enforcement, said the chase went from Norway to Iron Mountain and back to Norway. He also told us another one of his drivers encountered the speeding cab at some point and tried briefly to pursue, reporting that he thought the woman was driving over 90 mph.

One eyewitness told Local 3 she witnessed four law enforcement vehicles speeding down West A Street in Iron Mountain, with one quickly turning around in her yard. She took a photo of the skid marks from the police cruiser shortly after, which is timestamped 5:50 p.m. CST.

The chase then ended before 6:30 p.m. with the use of spike strips about three blocks from where he said the chase began, near 4th Avenue and Stephenson Street in Norway, according to Kacalo.

He told us that the woman was arrested by police and that his cab had sustained some damage.

We have not found any reports of bystanders or other drivers being hurt during the course of the chase.

Local 3 has reached out to the Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office and Iron Mountain Public Safety, but was told no one would be available to comment on the incident until Friday.

We will update this article when we can verify Kacalo’s account with law enforcement and add any additional information.

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