LOCAL : Handcuffed Suspect Escapes From Police Car in Sepulveda

A man with his hands cuffed behind him escaped from the back seat of a patrol car in Sepulveda after undoing a seat belt and slipping the cuffs under his legs, Los Angeles police said this morning.

Michael Smith, 27, of Sepulveda escaped about 2 p.m. Thursday from the patrol car parked in the 15100 block of Nordhoff Street. He was still being sought today, police said.

Smith was pulled over on a routine traffic stop and officers learned he was driving without a license, Capt. Jim Whitley said. When they checked the name he gave on a police computer, they learned a Michael Smith was wanted on a narcotics-related arrest warrant.

Smith was arrested and placed in the patrol car. While officers were preoccupied with something outside the car, the suspect escaped.

Whitley said officers learned after the escape that the suspect was not the same Michael Smith wanted on the arrest warrant but is a parolee. However, Whitley said the escapee is still being sought because his theft of handcuffs and interference with police violated his parole.

The escape was the second in three weeks from a patrol car in Sepulveda. On Aug. 29. Willie Lozano, 31, was arrested in the 15700 block of Nordhoff Street when officers spotted him carrying merchandise believed stolen.

After being placed alone in a patrol car, he unlocked his seat belt and slipped the handcuffs from his back to his front by sliding them under his legs, police said. He then jumped into the front seat of the patrol car, which was left running, and sped off. He later crashed the car after a chase and was charged with auto theft.