Knox, Indiana authorities are still reeling from a strange incident that occurred earlier in the week.
22-year old William Francis Blankenship was arrested at his family’s home late Thursday night by Knox police. He now stand accused of stealing a police cruiser while handcuffed, and then using the police radio to ask how to unlock the cuffs.
Blankenship had been arrested Tuesday on drug charges at a gas station in nearby Kouts. As the arresting officer searched Blankenship’s vehicle, the suspect somehow escaped from the police car’s backseat, climbed into the front and drove off. He then used the police radio to ask where to find the car’s cigarette lighter and a key to unlock his handcuffs.
Blankenship is reportedly being held without bond on a preliminary charge of auto theft. More charges are expected to be filed, pending further investigation.
The officer whose cruiser was stolen said he only realized the cruiser was gone when he looked up and saw the taillights leaving the parking lot. “I probably had a really dumb look on my face for maybe half a second,” Kouts police Sgt. Dave Johnston told The Associated Press.
Johnston, an 11-year veteran officer, said he believes Blankenship managed to contort himself to get the handcuffs in front of him, then hopped into the front seat and put the car into reverse before pulling away. The squad car was found in a drainage ditch Wednesday, and authorities recovered the police weapons stored in the cruiser.
Johnston said he handcuffed Blankenship’s hands behind his back and put him in the back of the running patrol car Tuesday night after spotting what he thought was drug paraphernalia in his car. The officer informed Blankenship he was under arrest, then went back to search the car more thoroughly. He had apparently only been searching the vehicle for a short time, when he looked up and saw the police cruiser leaving the parking lot.
#EPIC FAIL
