Highland Beach Police had a mystery on their hands Sunday when an officer tried to pull over a speeding car. But when the car stopped, the officer saw no one inside. After checking the area, baffled cops watched as the car took off again. After stopping it once more, cops still couldn’t see anyone inside the red Mitsubishi. Finally, after about 30 minutes, one of the cops noticed something moving inside the car. That’s when they found 28-year-old Maximilian Andrew Schroeder of West Boca — hiding in his trunk. Unamused with his disappearing act, cops hauled Schroeder off to jail. It was around 3 a.m. when a Highland Beach Police officer saw Schroeder’s Mitsubishi speed down South Ocean Boulevard, going 57 mph in a 35 mph zone, according to the Highland Beach Police arrest report. When the officer took off after the car, police say the Mitsubishi’s lights turned off and the car sped up to 65 mph. Not long after, in a parking lot at 3200 S. Ocean Blvd., an officer pulled in behind the Mitsubishi, which had stopped. But just as quickly, the Mitsubishi took off heading north, with the officer in pursuit. The car then stopped again, a short distance away. “As I approached, there was no one in the vehicle,” the officer wrote in the report. A search of the area came up empty. But around 3:20 a.m., police watched as the car took off again. After the Mitsubishi made “rapid evasive maneuvers,” officers watched the car park in the middle of the lot and once again, officers walked up to the car. And just like before, police say they saw no one inside, according to the report. It wasn’t until 4:20 a.m. when two officers near the car saw something move. That’s when they found out Schroeder had never left the car but instead, hid in the trunk every time officers walked up to the car, according to the report. Police say Schroeder was taken out of the trunk and arrested. He faces charges of fleeing and mar1juana and drug paraphernalia possession. He was booked and released from the Palm Beach County Jail on Sunday after a $3,000 bail was posted. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/fl-highland-trunk-hide-20130506,0,7120498.story Really now.... If cops are on your tail, 420 is the last thing you should celebrate.
Legally, could the police have opened the trunk if no driver was around? If so, why didn't they do that in the first place? Because if you don't see him in the seats, then the most likely place is the trunk...
