Theft Suspect Leaves No Doubt, Takes Police Car

Los Angeles police Saturday were left with little doubt about the intentions of a man they had arrested on suspicion of auto theft. Moments after his arrest, the handcuffed suspect bolted over the seat and stole the patrol car, leaving two officers behind.

“It’s fair to say that now he’s a suspect in two auto thefts,” said Southwest Division Lt. Paul Coble. They have no identity on the suspect, who remains at large.

Coble said Officers Richard Smith and Al Reyes apprehended the man at 12 p.m., when they said they saw him stripping a Volkswagen in an alley behind the 4100 block of Palmwood Drive in the Crenshaw District.

“While one of the officers conducted an investigation, the other handcuffed the suspect and put him in the right rear seat of the patrol car,” Coble said. “The engine was idling and as he walked around the car to turn it off, he was distracted by a citizen who began asking him questions.”

While that was going on, the suspect managed to bring his hands from behind his back by moving them under and over his legs, Coble said. “He then jumped over the seat and drove away,” he said.

The suspect apparently drove around the Crenshaw District for a while, Coble added. Police recovered the patrol car parked in an alley behind the 4600 block of Rodeo Way at 12:30 p.m. Police said the vehicle was not damaged, and the shotgun inside was still in its rack.

The suspect was still at large Saturday afternoon, presumably still wearing the handcuffs, said a patrolman at the Southwest Division.