Handcuffed Suspect Escapes San Jose Police Car, Is Recaptured In Hayward
HAYWARD (CBS SF) -- A handcuffed suspect detained in a stolen semi-truck case early Tuesday morning escaped by stealing the San Jose police car he was being held in and abandoning it in Hayward, authorities said.
Late Tuesday afternoon, the suspect - 40-year-old Andrew Trujillo - was recaptured wearing different clothing and without the handcuffs.
Trujillo was arrested in a second stolen semi-truck shortly before 4:30 p.m., according to police spokesman Sgt. Enrique Garcia.
Officers responded to a call reporting a suspicious vehicle in the 100 block of Hoger Way at 5:23 a.m. The caller reported that his semi-truck truck had been stolen and a GPS device inside located it stationary on Hoger Way.
Arriving officers, located Trujillo in the cab of the truck and took him into custody. He was handcuffed and placed in the back caged area of a patrol car while the officers continued searching for evidence at the scene.
Police said somehow Trujillo escaped the cage area and then drove away in the patrol car as the stunned officers looked on. The GPS-equipped vehicle was later located in the 23000 block of Clawiter Road in Hayward with the officers weapons still inside.
"The suspect was able to somehow bring the handcuffs to the front of his body," said Garcia. "How was he able to reach out and open up that [patrol car] door that you can't open from the inside ... I don't remember the last time this happened to us."
A witness saw Trujillo, wearing an orange towing company shirt with reflective stripes, park the patrol car in a parking lot and run away from it. He was later seen in the second stolen semi-truck and police officers were waiting for him as he was leaving a local business.
He got out, went into a business. When he came out of the business, we took him into custody," said Garcia. "He was not wearing handcuffs, he had changed his clothing appearance, and clearly he was trying to make his next move."
Garcia said Trujillo did not have any weapons when he was arrested, and faces at minimum three counts of auto theft. He was to be booked into jail Tuesday evening.
