Wanted in Georgia, caught in Miami-Dade — but not before escaping cop car and stealing van

A man wanted on kidnapping and illegal firearms charges in Georgia kicked out the window of a moving Miami-Dade patrol car, jumped down a 15-foot embankment and stole a van, causing headaches for rush-hour commuters in Sweetwater, Doral and the Flagler area on Monday.

After about a 20-minute chase along Flagler and then on Northwest 41st Street at 97th Avenue, Andy Leonard Ulysse, 33, was recaptured in a Walgreens parking lot.

Police believe Ulysse was trying to leave the country to avoid jail time for an alleged April kidnapping in Gwinnett County, Georgia, and a July home invasion and kidnapping in nearby Fulton County.

“It’s difficult to escape from a police car,” Miami-Dade Detective Alvaro Zabaleta said. “But when somebody is determined, there’s nothing impossible.”

Zabaleta said Ulysse will be sent back to Georgia after charges are filed against him in Miami-Dade. The detective said investigators are also looking into whether Ulysse is wanted on a murder charge in Ohio.

Miami-Dade police said its narcotics bureau was tipped off Monday morning that Ulysse was in the area of Biscayne Boulevard and Northeast 135th Street in North Miami. A detail investigated and found the fugitive, who gave up without a fight.

Ulysse was being escorted to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center just east of Doral on Monday morning in a moving patrol car when the commotion began. Still handcuffed, he kicked out the window of the patrol vehicle, then scurried down a two-story-tall embankment on the highway.

Near the bottom of the hill he found a white van with the engine running, jumped in and took off in a circuitous route that had police chasing him west on Flagler Street, then north on 97th Avenue. Along the way, police said, Ulysse tried to ram Florida Highway Patrol and Miami-Dade police vehicles.

He failed, as alert drivers got out of the way. But Ulysse did succeed in sideswiping a Sweetwater police car and narrowly missing a woman walking along the side of a road.

Police finally caught Ulyssee in a Walgreens parking lot at Northwest 41st Street and 97th Avenue.

Miami Herald staff writer Charles Rabin contributed to this report.

This story was originally published January 25, 2016 at 10:57 AM with the headline "Wanted in Georgia, caught in Miami-Dade — but not before escaping cop car and stealing van."