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A few minutes later, police said, the man again hopped behind the wheel and motored off.

So far, so good. But as officers trailed several blocks behind, the tracking signal died.

The car and suspect vanished just over the Maryland line.

It took police two days to find the car in Prince George's County. An $80 videocassette recorder in the car's trunk, which was used to record the sting operation, was missing, police said.