Handcuffed man arrested after stealing San Jose police car

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KTVU) - San Jose police say they have arrested a man who is allegedly stole a police car.  Police say 40-year-old Andrew Trujillo was found in a stolen semi-truck in Hayward Tuesday afternoon.

Police investigators say their manhunt began with a stolen truck turning up on Holger Way near Highway 237 in North San Jose. Arriving officers found Trujillo inside, and arrested him on suspicion of theft. Trujillo was handcuffed behind his back and placed into a police Chevy Caprice patrol car. The rear area is sealed off from the driver section, with bars on the windows. But somehow, Trujillo managed to steal the squad car.

“It appears as though the suspect was able to slip his handcuffs to the front of his body. And then open the rear passenger door where suspects are housed when they’re arrested. He was able to then get into the front of the police car and drive away,” said Garcia.

Detectives say all SJPD vehicles have GPS trackers attached, and in this case the tracker led them 23 miles away, to Hayward, between the San Mateo Bridge and San Leandro city line. Witnesses say Trujillo pulled into the parking lot of Target Glass and Window, and tried to park the vehicle partially obscured.

“We pulled in, I actually helped our employee wave down an officer. And the next thing you know there’s like 50 (police) cars in the parking lot,” said Lori Rupert, co-owner of Target Glass & Window.

Trujillo got out and ran off. Arriving officers set up a perimeter, and searched the area, but thus far have not located the suspect. San Jose police are also looking into how a handcuffed person was able to open a rear squad car door that’s locked from the outside, when there are bars on the window.

“You have the person secured in a vehicle. We have to look at how this person was able to escape, easily, and we’ll go from there,” said Garcia.

Weapons that were inside the patrol car are all accounted for. Detectives don’t know why Trujillo went to Hayward but speculate hey may have family or friends in the area.