Holly MatkinLouisville, KY – A suspect wearing body armor and carrying two guns stolen from police was apprehended during a foot chase Wednesday night.
Robert Dumonte, 31, has been accused of possessing guns, Tasers, radios, riot control explosives, body armor, and other equipment that had been stolen from Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) vehicles over a two-week period, according to WDRB reported.
Police said multiple vehicles belonging to the police department were stolen during the same period of time.
Shortly before 7 p.m. on Jan. 5, LMPD officers spotted Dumonte on Belmar Drive in the Camp Taylor neighborhood, WDRB reported.
He was allegedly in possession of a 2020 Jeep Gladiator and a 2010 Bentley that had both been reported as stolen out of Tennessee, according to investigators.
The stolen vehicles had a combined value of $140,000, police said.
When they moved in to arrest Dumonte, he allegedly took off on foot wearing LMPD body armor and a tactical vest emblazoned with a badge and the word “Police” on the front and back, WDRB reported.
Officers said he was also carrying two .40-caliber handguns equipped with lasers, all of which had allegedly been stolen from the LMPD.
Dumonte was ultimately apprehended and booked into jail on multiple offenses, including fleeing or evading police on foot, impersonating an officer, multiple vehicle thefts, and receipt of stolen property, among other charges, WDRB reported.
Police executed several search warrants during the ensuing investigation and recovered “a multitude of LMPD equipment…uniforms, weapons, and munitions,” LMPD spokesperson Dwight Mitchell said in a statement on Thursday.
Investigators said they also found evidence linking Dumonte to several car thefts near Nashville and said he has further been accused of an armed carjacking that took place in Louisville in November, WLKY reported.
Dumonte was booked into jail on a $130,000 bond.
