Florida Man has serious competition.
A convicted felon drove a stolen Broward Sheriff's Office cruiser more than 90 miles up I-95 at 100 mph while wearing the agency's own ballistic vest.
This Florida woman had no plan when deputies caught her on a highway off-ramp with guns drawn and a K-9 at her side.
What Dillon Did and What She's Facing
Shannon Marie Dillon, 42, of Fort Lauderdale – or more accurately "at large," which is the actual address BSO had on file for her – walked up to a marked patrol vehicle sitting in a public parking area at BSO headquarters on Broward Boulevard and drove away.
Nobody stopped her.
The cruiser traveled north on I-95 through the night, reportedly hitting 100 mph, while BSO and the Florida Highway Patrol monitored the pursuit.
She abandoned it on the Gatlin Boulevard off-ramp in Port St. Lucie.
Deputies found her standing nearby wearing an outer ballistic vest with Broward Sheriff's Office insignia on it.
Body camera footage released by the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office shows multiple deputies pointing weapons at Dillon on the ground while a K-9 stands ready.
"Move and you are going to get dog bit," a deputy warned her.
She didn't move.
Dillon was booked into the St. Lucie County Jail at 3:11 a.m. on September 23 with a total bond of $107,500.
She faces charges including grand theft of law enforcement equipment, unlawful use of a police badge or vehicle, unlawful possession of identification items, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, and driving with a suspended license.
Broward County has two additional holds on top of those – one with no bond – for grand theft of law enforcement equipment from an authorized emergency vehicle.
A Homeless Felon Just Walked Off With a Police Cruiser
Broward County Police Benevolent Association President Rod Skirvin explained exactly how this happened.
"Some are equipped with safety switches that are hidden so that this doesn't happen," Skirvin said. "Some are not. In this particular case, the car was not equipped with that safety switch."
BSO launched an Internal Affairs investigation.
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The department described Dillon as "unhoused" – meaning a person with no fixed address walked into the parking lot of one of Florida's largest law enforcement agencies and drove home in a squad car.
This is not the first time something like this has happened in Florida.
In 2021, a man in Volusia County stole a Cocoa Police Department cruiser, crashed it on I-95, then climbed into a second Cocoa Police cruiser and fled again before deputies finally stopped him.
The pattern is consistent: unattended police vehicles with no anti-theft measures, and offenders with nothing to lose.
Skirvin called this the best-case outcome.
"Definitely, this was the best case scenario of an ending to a crazy story," Skirvin said. "There were no traffic accidents involved in this incident. Nobody was harmed."
He's right.
It could have ended with a 100 mph crash into a family on I-95.
This Is What a System Without Consequences Produces
Dillon is a convicted felon – already legally barred from touching a firearm.
She had a weapon.
She had drug paraphernalia.
She had a suspended license.
She was living on the streets of Fort Lauderdale.
And none of that stopped her from walking into a law enforcement headquarters parking lot, taking a marked police cruiser, pulling on the agency's ballistic vest, and driving it the length of two counties at triple-digit speeds.
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Under Florida law, wearing police insignia while committing a felony is a second-degree felony on its own – up to 15 years in prison.
Stack the felon-in-possession charge, the grand theft of law enforcement equipment, and the Broward holds, and Dillon is looking at decades of potential prison time if prosecutors pursue every charge.
But here's the thing your 65-year-old neighbor already knows that no politician wants to say out loud: Shannon Marie Dillon didn't wake up Tuesday morning and suddenly become dangerous.
She's been dangerous.
The question was never whether she'd eventually do something serious.
The question was what serious thing she'd do – and whether anyone would be hurt when she did it.
This time nobody was.
Next time, the math changes.
Sources:
- Nancy Gay, "Florida woman wearing ballistic vest arrested after stolen patrol car found abandoned on interstate: SLCSO," Fox 13 News, September 23, 2026.
- Peter D'Oench and Abby Dodge, "Video shows arrest of Broward woman accused of stealing BSO patrol vehicle, driving it 90 miles," CBS Miami, September 23, 2026.
- Gavin Baio, "Florida Woman Steals Patrol Vehicle While Wearing a Ballistic Vest, Gets Arrested at Gunpoint," Yahoo News, September 24, 2026.
