San Diego

San Diego police are searching for two men who escaped from the back seat of separate police cars parked at police headquarters Monday, a police spokesman said.

Police said a man who identified himself as Chris A. Brown, 31, of 30th Street, escaped about 2 p.m. from a police car parked in the basement area of police headquarters at 1401 Broadway. Officials are “perplexed” by the escape and unable to explain how the handcuffed Brown managed to get outside the vehicle, spokesman Bill Robinson said.

To compound the situation, Robinson said another man, identified as Martin Garcia, 29, escaped about two hours after Brown. Officials suspect that Brown returned to the area and released Garcia by opening the police car door, Robinson said. Both Brown and Garcia were in custody on suspicion of auto theft, he said.

Robinson said standard procedure calls for officers to leave suspects unattended while they run record checks before transporting them to County Jail. The building’s parking area is enclosed by fences, he said.

Officials suspect that Brown and Garcia fled through a pedestrian gate used by Police Department personnel, Robinson said.

Robinson said that he could not recall a similar escape but that the procedure for leaving suspects unattended while officers enter the headquarters building is under review.