You know what they say: desperate times call for desperate measures.
Last week, a 14-year-old girl found herself in need of a ride to her boyfriend's house, and decided she was just about desperate enough to commit grand theft auto in order to get there.
Josie Bigelow, a Florida resident, hatched a cunning plan when she was unable to find any other mode of transport to get to her boyfriend. She ordered a pizza from Papa Johns, waited for the driver - 49-year-old Christopher Cook - to arrive at a house, then leapt out of the bushes nearby in order to jump into the unlocked vehicle.
Astoundingly, the teenager managed to evade a pursuing sheriff's deputy twice and ditch the car on a stranger's driveway about six miles away from her house. Her getaway was not as swift as she had hoped, however, and she was collared before she could get to her boyfriend's place.
According to the police report, Cook had been outsmarted by the teenager as he prepared to deliver a pizza to a randomly chosen address.
"[Cook] parked in the street and walked to the front door with the ordered food. As Christopher approached the residence, he observed a figure come from the wood line and enter his gold Ford 2006 Taurus, rev the engine and drive through the front yard of the house along the canal bank."
The pizza delivery man, now left stranded, decided to call his employer for help. They, in turn, urged him to phone the police, who responded by chasing the stolen car.
The vehicle was actually located within a couple of minutes, but Bigelow managed to evade the pursuing officer, Deputy Peterson, two times. This urged the deputy to switch to a different tactic: he followed her incognito, and alerted an aviation unit to monitor it from the air.
Bigelow was finally arrested at 3.15am, three hours after Cook reported his car stolen.
In an interview with a local TV station, the girl's father, Joseph Bigelow, said that she "needs an ass whipping...That and jail." He also told law enforcement that his daughter "has fallen in with a bad crowd" and complained about "how bad her behaviour had been recently."
Joseph Bigelow also claimed he had seen text messages on the 14-year-old's phone in which she discussed robbing people with her boyfriend.
The teen was booked on charges of grand theft auto and transported to the Juvenile Assessment Center without further incident. She has since been released.
Cook's car was returned to him without any damage. By way of thanks for their assistance, the delivery driver gave the pizza that Bigelow ordered to the arresting officers.
