Pasco deputies: Man bites patrol car

NEW PORT RICHEY — Handcuffed, drunk and angry, Jesse Ray Stewart expressed his feelings by chewing up a deputy's patrol car — ripping off chunks of vinyl from the seat with his teeth and exposing the stuffing, authorities said. He caused about $300 damage during his ride from New Port Richey to the jail in Land O'Lakes, according to the Pasco Sheriff's Office.

The ordeal began with a resident on Whitetail Lane in New Port Richey finding Stewart, 18, inside his mini-van about 5:30 a.m. Sunday, the sheriff's report said. Stewart fled and was tracked by a pink cell phone in his pocket he had stolen from another car in the neighborhood, the report states. Stewart reeked of alcohol, slurred, stumbled and was generally "uncooperative," authorities said.

He banged his head on the patrol car's windows. The chewed-up and spit-out bits of car seat were collected as evidence, a report states.

Stewart, of New Port Richey, was charged with resisting arrest, criminal mischief and two counts of auto burglary. He is being held at the Pasco County jail in lieu of $10,300 bail.