By Jason Old
WISTV -10
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Columbia police have a mystery on their hands after an unidentified man wearing handcuffs escaped from a police cruiser early Wednesday morning.
The daring escape happened around 2:15 a.m. in the 700 block of Harden Street in Five Points near the Thirsty Parrot.
According to officers, the suspect smelled of alcohol, his speech was slurred, and he actively resisted arrest by swinging his hands in an aggressive manner.
After a struggle, an officer placed the apparent underage drinker in the back of a cruiser with handcuffs on both wrists behind his back. The man did not have identification and would not provide his name, according to a police incident report.
The officer locked the Chevrolet Impala and left the windows up while he helped another officer who was involved in a fight across the street.
While the officer was away from the cruiser, the man was able to knock the back part of one of the windows off, slide it down, and escape from the vehicle, police said.
He was last seen at the BP gas station on Rosewood Drive near South Holly Street.
The suspect said he was under 21, but gave police two different ages, 18 and 21. He is described as being white, standing 5' 8", and weighing approximately 190 pounds. He was wearing a black hoodie, khaki pants, a white T-shirt and a red and black flat-billed hat.
Police are trying to obtain useable surveillance video to help track the man down.
The man, if caught, faces charges of escape, malicious injury to property, drunkenness, resisting arrest, alcohol possession, giving false information to police, and petit larceny.
If you know anything about this incident, you are urged to call Crimestoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC.
Reprinted with permission from WISTV-10