A Kansas man was arrested after he allegedly stole a car to go bail out his older brother, who had been detained for stealing a car, authorities said.
Eric Dean McCracken, 36, and Keith Ray McCracken, 32, were arrested hours apart on Friday morning, the Jackson County Sheriff's Office in Kansas said.
A Jackson County Sheriff's deputy had stopped Eric McCracken in a 2007 Chevy Trailblazer near Mayetta, Kansas, for a traffic infraction at around 1.30 a.m. on Friday, the sheriff's office said. He was arrested at the scene for driving with a suspended license and was taken to jail.
The sheriff's office later determined the Trailblazer had been stolen, after discovering it was registered not to Eric McCracken, but to an address in Meriden. The vehicle's owner was not aware it was missing at the time McCracken was stopped, but later reported it stolen.
Then, shortly before 5 a.m., the sheriff's office said it was alerted by the Shawnee County Sheriff's Office of a stolen 2015 Chevy Silverado they were tracking that was heading north of U.S. Highway 75.
An off-duty Jackson County sheriff's deputy began following the vehicle into Holton where a police officer tried to stop the vehicle, but it fled the scene by driving through yards before stopping behind a former County Mart Store. There, the driver fled the vehicle on foot, the sheriff's office said.
A perimeter was set up and a K9 belonging to the Jackson County Sheriff's Office began to track the suspect, later identified as Keith McCracken.
Undersheriff Darrel Chapmen spotted him inside the Casey's General Store on Arizona Avenue and deputies and police officers took him into custody.
"It is believed that the younger McCracken was en route to the Jackson County Jail to post bail on his older brother in a stolen vehicle," Jackson County Sheriff Tim Morse said in a news release.
The brothers, both of Topeka, Kansas, were booked into Jackson County Jail awaiting bond, the sheriff's office said.
Eric McCracken is charged with driving while suspended and possession of stolen property. Keith McCracken is being held on charges of fleeing and eluding a law enforcement officer, reckless driving, driving while suspended and possession of stolen property.
Newsweek has reached out to Jackson County Sheriff's Office for comment.
