“I can only assume he was using his knees,” said a police officer.
A 23-year-old man is suspected of stealing a Kansas Highway Patrol vehicle and leading police in a chase at speeds of up to 160 km / h – while handcuffed in the back, officials said.
Investigators are trying to determine how the suspect, Joshua D. Swartwout, of Naples, Florida, managed to sit behind the wheel of the patrol car and drive it for more than 30 miles without using his hands.
Officer Tod Hileman, a spokesman for the Kansas Highway Patrol, told ABC News on Sunday that the soldiers who arrested Swartwout did not initially ask how he operated the emergency vehicle.
“As a high-speed chase instructor for 20 years, I can only assume that he was using his knees,” said Hileman.
The Houdini-style escape took place shortly after noon on Saturday, when a Kansas Highway Patrol officer was transporting Swartwout to a detention center after he was arrested on suspicion of car theft after a previous chase, according to with a statement from the Highway Patrol.
Hileman said the vehicle was not equipped with a cage or partition for the rear seat.
“He was being transported in the front seat of the car,” said Hileman.
While on Highway 25 near Atwood in northwest Kansas, the policeman witnessed a serious motorcycle accident and stopped to help, leaving Swartwout alone in the patrol car, Hileman said.
“We don’t normally do that, but this policeman saw the accident happen right in front of him and it was in a rural area,” said Hileman. “Being trained as a highway patrolman, you are ingrained that you will help.”
While the policeman helped the accident victim, Swartwout, who was handcuffed behind his back, sat in the driver’s seat and left, according to the road patrol statement.
The policeman immediately called for help on the radio. Police officers who rushed to the scene spotted the stolen patrol car heading south on Highway 25, officials said.
Hileman said the chase reached 160 km / h on a stretch he described as a narrow two-lane road with ditches on both sides.
The chase continued on Interstate 70 and headed west toward the Kansas-Colorado border. When the chase arrived in Edson, Kansas, about 30 miles from where it started, the stolen patrol car ran out of gas, according to the statement.
“The suspect, who was still handcuffed on his back, fled on foot, but was quickly arrested,” says a road patrol statement.
Swartwout was examined by an emergency medical services team who determined he was uninjured. He was taken to Sherman County Jail and fined without further incident, officials said.