I’m very surprised that there isn’t legislation requiring a way to stop the car if it does run away. (Although it’s quite possible that’s what the police used once they got in the car, and the user missed it in the panic)
Kinda like how you should know how to stall engine runaway on a diesel.
Cruise control does not force the car to stay at the requested speed if the driver is telling it to slow down (nor prevent it speeding up if the driver deems it necessary), that would be ridiculously dangerous. It just makes it a little easier to cruise at a constant speed.
It was a brand new car. Faulty off the production line.