Box Of Girl Scout Cookies Leads Hemet Police To Pursuit Suspect
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Police are crediting a box of Girl Scout cookies Friday for leading them to a motorcycle pursuit suspect.
A Hemet police officer attempted to pull over the suspect for a vehicle code violation in the 1300 block of east Florida Avenue on Thursday just after 4 p.m., according to Hemet Police Lt. Eddie Pust.
When the motorcyclist failed to yield and sped off, a brief pursuit ensued in which police say the motorcyclist threw an item into some nearby bushes just prior to officers losing sight of him.
Officers stopped and discovered the object thrown in the bushes was a box of "Thin Mints" Girl Scout cookies with a note and phone number "to call if the buyer wanted to purchase more Girl Scout Cookies," said Pust.
After calling the number listed on the note, a Girl Scout sales representative told police she could identify the motorcyclist who purchased the cookies, according to Pust.
Police responded to a report of the motorcyclist driving into a mobile home park in the 600 block of north State Street, where they found the motorcycle under a tarp with smoke emitting from it, Pust said.
Officers then located a man suspected of driving the motorcycle inside the residence.
The Girl Scout sales representative later arrived at the mobile home park and identified 31-year-old Joseph Kopff as the man who just purchased the cookies, according to Pust.
Kopff was arrested for felony reckless evading and later transported to Riverside County Jail, where he's being held on $100,000 bail.