x
Breaking News
More () »

Did a Fort Worth Police Car end up in England? Photos show vintage cruiser in UK beach town

So how in the world did a Fort Worth Police cruiser wind up in Southern England?

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Every detail is there, from the longhorn logo to the slogan, "Where the West Begins." So how in the world did a Fort Worth Police cruiser wind up in Southern England?

Fort Worth Police posted the images to social media, sent to them by a man in the resort town of Bournemouth, England.

"If he hadn't sent it, we would have had no clue," said Sgt. Chris Britt with Fort Worth police.

The photographs were taken by Ben Poynter. He's lived in Bournemouth a few months, and he said told WFAA he was surprised to find an American police car on the streets.

"I've never been to America. It's the first time I've seen an American police car in person," Poynter said.

He didn't know who owns the vehicle, but he said in speaking with neighbors, he learned the car has been there a few years. Someone occasionally moves it around town to avoid parking tickets.

"I've seen it in two different places around the beach front," Poynter said.

The question, of course, is whether it's the real deal. Back in the 90s and early 2000s, Fort Worth PD used Chevy Caprices as patrol cars, just like the vehicle in England.

"If that were here, that could very easily be confused for one of our vehicles," said Sgt. Britt.

Fort Worth PD believes it's a very close imitation. It's department policy to remove decals when old cars are sold, so they believe it's unlikely that the car went from Texas to England with graphics intact. However, they can't be completely sure that it's not a Fort Worth police vehicle. The photographs show the vehicle as unit 495.

"There could have been a 495 out there at one point," said Britt.

In fact, former Fort Worth police officer Rob Moore says there was a Unit 495 and for two years he drove it. And it was late 90s Chevy Caprice.

"495 was my car," said Moore. "So when I saw that picture, it really just blew me away."

Moore left the department in 2009 and now works as a firefighter, but he says he has fond memories of the vehicle which was in great condition when he drove it from 2002-2004.

"That was my favorite car," Moore said. "I always bragged about it."

He says that while some of the decals are different than when he drove the vehicle, many details are the same including the wire mesh cage in the back and the old style spotlights. He wonders if just might be the same vehicle, because he never really knew what happened to it.

"I went to work one day, went to go get my car, and it was gone," he recalled, with no explanation from fleet services.

It's a mystery that for now is still unsolved, and somewhere in the wide world, a car's story continues.

"If I ever make it England, I'm going to try and find that car," Moore said.

Before You Leave, Check This Out