SAINT CLAIR -- Officers in Schuylkill County are trying to find a man who escaped out of the back of a police car.
The man was in handcuffs in the back of the patrol cruiser Monday night when somehow he vanished.
Police in Schuylkill County need help finding Mark Smith, 28, recently arrested for outstanding warrants from a prior retail theft charge.
He somehow managed to escape police custody.
Officer Gerard Daley arrested Smith, put him in handcuffs in the back of this his police cruiser, and then walked inside the Saint Clair police station on North 2nd Street to pick up paperwork for Smith's arrest. When he came back, he couldn't believe his eyes.
“When I came back out to the vehicle minutes later, I went to take him over to the jail and noticed he was not in the vehicle,” said Officer Daley.
After the initial shock, Officer Daley sat in the back of this cruiser to figure out how Smith escaped.
It looks like Smith crawled through a small window into the officer's front seat and walked away. It appeared a bit of Smith's footprint was left on the back seat as he made his escape.
“I was shocked. That’s a pretty small opening and he’s a little bigger than me. I don’t think I can squeeze through that window, so he was determined to get away and he did, but we’ll find him eventually.”
Mark Smith now faces far more serious charges. On top of the retail theft charges he was arrested for, he is now also looking at felony escape.
“It would terrify me just knowing he’s around and he’s not where he needs to be,” said Lois Stout.
Stout lives in the area where Smith escaped, and although he doesn't have a record for being a violent criminal, it's unnerving that he's still on the loose and can potentially commit more crimes.
"You never know if it could be your house or if it could your car or anything."
Police warn anyone who may be hiding or helping Mark Smith that they will be prosecuted as well.
Anyone else who may know where the escaped man is should contact police in Cass Township.