Police surround Hyatt Place Hotel, arrest suspect who allegedly stole unmarked police unit

El Paso Police officers swarmed the Hyatt Place hotel in Central El Paso Friday afternoon looking for a suspect who allegedly stole an unmarked police unit.

ABC-7 has learned the suspect, not yet identified by police, is in custody.

The hotel is located at 6030 Gateway East across the freeway from Bassett Place Mall.

Police said the suspect was spotted at about 11 am, in the Lower Valley, driving a Jeep Cherokee that was reported stolen.

When officers attempted to pull the suspect over, he allegedly fled. At some point during the pursuit,police said, the suspect exited the stolen vehicle and managed to enter an unmarked police unit.

“The officers left their vehicles in order to chase him and he was able to double back – that’s a possibility,” a police spokesman said, “There is no procedure (for officers) on when to turn on and off a car. In the heat of a moment, it’s possible to leave a car running. It’s been done before and it’s just too early to tell how that happened.”

The suspect, allegedly driving the police unit, led police on a car chase to the Hyatt Place hotel. Police conducted a door-to-door, room-to-room search for the suspect.

Police said the hotel was not evacuated because police knew the suspect was inside. The suspect was eventually found in a “common area” of the hotel at about 1 pm, the police spokesman said.

A police officer may have fired his weapon during the initial pursuit in the Lower Valley, police said. The investigation continues.