Santa Fe, NM - Handcuffed Suspect Steals Police Car - Crashes into Telephone Pole
 

Police: Man, maybe in cuffs, stole cop car
By Jason Auslander | The New Mexican
September 9, 2006

Attorney says suspect will turn himself in today

Though he might not be the reincarnation of Harry Houdini, a 21-year-old Santa Fe man nonetheless pulled off a bit of unexplained derring-do Thursday night.

The man, who was not identified Friday because he had not yet been charged, was taken into custody at Allsup's, 650 Cerrillos Road, about 11:15 p.m. by officers who suspected he was a minor under the influence of alcohol, Deputy Police Chief Stan Mascarenas said. An officer handcuffed his wrists behind his back and put him in the back seat of a patrol car, Mascarenas said.

The officer then walked over to talk to detectives, who were some distance away, Mascarenas said.

``The next thing (the officer) knew, the car was gone,'' Mascarenas said. ``He didn't even see it leave.''

Officers immediately searched the surrounding area and soon found the car abandoned a few blocks away near Galisteo Street and Anita Place, he said. The patrol car had been driven into or had rolled into a utility pole, causing  damage, Mascarenas said.


Santa Fe police officers, assisted by deputies from the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department, looked through the South Capital neighborhood in pouring rain for the man but didn't find him, Mascarenas said.

The man's lawyer, Dan Marlowe, said Friday that his client would turn himself in to police at noon today. He said police had identified the man because he left his cell phone in the patrol car.

Mascarenas, who said the man was muddy when he was arrested, said officers found mud on the headrest of the patrol car and around the sliding plastic screen between the vehicle's front and back seats. That led them to believe that the man -- who they said is about 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs 160 pounds -- somehow slipped out of the handcuffs or moved his cuffed hands from behind him to in front of him, then crawled through the 14-inch-by-14-inch space between the seats and drove off, he said.

Marlowe said he did not know how the man dealt with the handcuffs or slipped away from police on foot. He also said he didn't know why the man drove off in the car.

``I told (police) he was just taking the car to get it washed,'' said Marlowe, who added his client will likely be charged with stealing the car.

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