FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Stephen Nitsch was arrested Thursday after leading police on a chase in a stolen Corvette along Interstate 95.
With a flat tire, he ran out of the car. He attempted to jump through a drive-by window at the Snappers Fish & Chicken restaurant on the corner of Northwest Third Street and Northwest Sixth Avenue.
A frightened Cornisha Flanders moved quickly. She closed the window and officers surrounded Nitsch, 33, Wednesday afternoon.
Detective Tracy Figone, a spokeswoman for the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, said the chase began about 5 p.m. at the 1500 block of Northeast 18th Avenue, where there was a burglary.
After stealing the Corvette in Fort Lauderdale's Victoria Park neighborhood, Nitsch was speeding northbound on I-95. He drove onto the exit ramp on Atlantic Boulevard, where police in an unmarked SUV attempted to stop him.
The officers in the SUV rammed into the Corvette.
Nitsch abandoned the car in the middle of Northwest Sixth Avenue. He took off running around the restaurant building.
Lewis Mohorn Jr. said he saw him "running for his life." There were helicopters and dozens of police officers. After the Snappers Fish & Chicken employee closed the drive-through window so Nitsch couldn't jump in, Ercelia Hudson said she saw officers quickly "tackle him down" and arrest him.
Nitsch is facing charges of burglary, auto theft and fleeing and eluding police. He is expected to appear in Broward County court Thursday.