Overnight Thursday a man who may have stolen two cars in a short period of time was able to evade and elude police officers.

According to police, the incident began near the intersection of Orange Avenue and Dunlawton Avenue when Port Orange Police Officer David Vastell observed a white Ford Focus speeding westbound on Dunlawton Avenue.

Officer Vastell followed the Ford Focus and attempted to stop the vehicle. The vehicle refused to stop, and attempted to elude police.

The vehicle accelerated south on Ruth Street crossing Dunlawton Avenue failing to stop for the stop sign.

The vehicle continued south on Ruth Street also running the stop sign at Powers Avenue.

Ruth Street dead ends in this area, near the Port Orange Water Treatment Plant.

From a distance, Officer Vastell observed the vehicle brake suddenly and then observed the driver jump from the car and run away on foot in a south easterly direction as the suspect car continued rolling southbound.

The Ford Focus subsequently rolled into the retention pond near the Water Treatment Plant.

Responding officers were establishing a perimeter for the fleeing driver when a call came in that a vehicle was just stolen from the 4100 block of Dairy Court, which is southeast from the aforementioned retention pond.

On Dairy Court, a subject had left his 1994 Chevy van running and unoccupied as he looked for scrap metal in the area. The suspect driver from the aforementioned fleeing vehicle appeared and jumped into the victims van.

The victim heard his van engine accelerating and he ran to the van and tried to open the door as the suspect fled in his van south on Dairy Court.

The owner of the van was not injured. 

Police located the stolen can on the 600 block of Oak Street, the van’s engine apparently stopped running rendering the van inoperable where it was found by responding officers on the side of Oak Street unoccupied.

A search of the area for the suspect driver yielded no results. 

The Ford Focus was towed and held for further investigation. The van was turned back over to the victim. This incident remains open and under investigation.

Anyone with any information on the suspect, or the crime, is asked to call the the Port Orange Police Department or Volusia County Sheriff's Office.