A 57-year-old man is facing multiple felonies after police investigators believe he stole a police patrol car and kidnapped a Texas Tech University student on campus while police searched him.
Keith Kalka was booked into the Lubbock County Jail on felony charges of unlawful restraint, evading arrest with a vehicle, and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. He also faces a misdemeanor charge of falsely identifying himself as a police officer, according to jail records.
A criminal and administrative investigation is ongoing, police sources said.
The case against Kalka began around 8:37 a.m. when police responded to a disturbance at a strip mall in the 2700 block of 26th Street.
Upon arrival, responding officers entered the workplace and attempted to locate the subject. Unable to find the subject, the officer left and checked the area.
According to LPD, while searching the area immediately after leaving the store, the officer was waved down by an employee who alerted the officer that the subject was attempting to steal merchandise from the store.
Officers then parked their vehicle and entered the store to make contact with the subject, later identified as Kalka. While the officer was collecting Kalka's belongings from the shopping cart, Kalka left the store, walked to his patrol car, got into a marked unit and drove away at 8:48 a.m.
According to LPD, the officer immediately notified LPD Communications that his unit had been stolen. At that point, communications personnel began tracking the vehicle's location and broadcasting its location to nearby responding officers.
Kalka drove the patrol car east on 25th Street and then north on Boston Street. During this time, Kalka continued north on Boston Street, crossed 19th Street and entered the Texas Tech University campus.
At that time, LPD Communications notified the Texas Tech University Police Department of the stolen police unit and its latest location.
Texas Tech PD then notified LPD that patrol units were on campus near the construction area on the southeast side of Jones AT&T Stadium.
According to LPD, Kalka approached the female student in the stadium parking lot, falsely identified himself as a police officer, indicated that he was under arrest and ordered her to get into a squad car.
He then drove her to a convenience store in the 2400 block of Marsha Sharp Freeway, where after a short time he drove her south on the 400 block of University Avenue.
Responding LPD officers then observed units turning west from University Avenue into the 2500 block of Sixth Street. Officers began pursuing the stolen unit with lights and sirens on, at which point the stolen unit moved into an area cut off by construction equipment.
Kalka stopped, exited the vehicle, and officers arrested him without incident at 8:56 a.m., LPD said. The female student was not injured in the incident.
LPD said an administrative investigation is underway to determine how the patrol force worked and whether the officers were placed on leave.
