Police still puzzled by how a woman swiped a police squad car

By Jonathan Osborne 
American-Statesman Staff
Wednesday, December 20, 2000

Until Austin police rearrested her late Monday
night, the last time they saw April Yglesias was
when she drove off with a squad car -
confiscated heroin in the front seat and her 
handcuffs in the back. 

Police are still tying to figure out what happened. 

Officially, the department is offering little 
explanation. "The method in which she did gain 
access to the patrol car to drive off is still 
under investigation," spokeswoman Laura Albrecht 
said. 

Privately, several officers said, investigators
are focusing on a 1 1/2-foot-by-2-foot opening 
between the front and back seats. If left
unlatched, the sliding, clear-plastic window can 
be pushed open. A woman of Yglesias' stature - 
- her driver's license lists her as 5-foot-8 and 
110 pounds -- could wiggle through the opening, 
the officers said.

Call it the case of the contortionist in custody - 
if only briefly. Yglesias was arrested shortly
before midnight Monday on South Congress 
Avenue near St. Edward's University. 

Police can see no other escape route if the 
cruiser's rear doors, which cannot be opened 
from the inside, were shut - a detail department 
officials refused to discuss. 

While the department remained silent, 
Detective Mike Sheffield defended the arresting
officer. 

"It could happen to any of us out here working," 
said Sheffield president of the Austin Police
Association. "It's one of those things that from 
time to time happens in police work." 

If suspects are not considered a serious threat, 
officers are less likely to clamp handcuffs tightly 
against their wrists, Sheffield said. In addition 
many women can narrow their hands to make it
easier to slip out of handcuffs, he said. 

"This is a good officer We all make mistakes," 
Sheffield said. 

The incident began Saturday afternoon when police 
officer Carlos Saldivar stopped Yglesias and two 
passengers near Chicon and 14th streets because the 
buyer's tags on the 1986 beige Oldsmobile she was 
driving had expired.

After learning that Yglesias, 26, had a suspended 
license and outstanding traffic warrants, 
Saldivar arrested her, handcuffed her hands behind 
her back and put her in the police car's back seat, 
according to court records.

Saldivar then searched the car while a backup officer 
watched the two passengers.

In the car's center console, Saldivar found 
heroin and heroin paraphernalia, which he put
in the front seat of his patrol car, court records 
said. While continuing the search, Saldivar looked 
up to see his patrol car was gone.

"Neither Saldivar... nor any other police employees 
gave Yglesias permission to take the police car,"
an arrest warrant for Yglesias said.

Police found their car almost two hours later in 
the parking lot of the Episcopal Theological Seminary
of the Southwest, at 32nd and Duval streets.
Its overhead lights were still flashing and the 
handcuffs were in the back seat. There were no keys
or heroin inside, according to court records said.

Yglesias was charged with escape from custody, unauthorized 
use of a vehicle, failure to identity and possession 
of a dangerous drug. She also has seven outstanding 
traffic tickets. She was being held at Travis County
Jail. Bail was set at $42,800.

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