A handcuffed man was able to crawl through a Plexiglas partition and carjack a police cruiser in Houston County, Georgia, over Fourth of July weekend.
Seth Ray Stewart, 21, of Park, Florida, and passenger Kimon Marcus Miller, 24, of Miami, were pulled over Saturday for speeding and were handcuffed and placed in the back of a police cruiser after deputies found marijuana in the car Stewart was driving, the Macon Telegraph reported.
While deputies were searching the car, Stewart reportedly was able to get his handcuffed hands from around his back and crawl through an open partition, police said.
Stewart started the car with the push-button ignition and took off down I-75, abandoning the car about five miles away in south Houston County.
Miller stayed near the patrol car until deputies arrived, while Stewart was recaptured about an hour later, the Telegraph reported.
Stewart was charged with theft by taking a motor vehicle, escape and misdemeanor marijuana possession. He has no known outstanding warrants, and police can’t figure out why he fled.
Houston County Sheriff’s Capt. Ronnie Harlowe told the Telegraph that he’s never heard a story like it in his 20 years with the agency.
The officer said there is no policy against deputies leaving the partition between the front and backseat of the patrol car open. The deputy had apparently left it open so the suspects could get cool air in the backseat of the car, a local CBS affiliate reported.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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