Suspect escapes police custody in Penn Hills

PENN HILLS, Pa. — There are questions about how a suspect managed to escape from officers outside the Penn Hills police station.

Police paperwork shows the suspect was handcuffed and being escorted by officers, so how was he able to escape?

John Mitchell is currently in jail, but he spent some time on the run after fleeing police custody two days ago.

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Channel 11 talked to neighbors along Heberton Drive in Penn Hills who say they called police after seeing someone trying to break into cars.

Officers arrested Mitchell, put him in the back of a police car and drove him to the Penn Hills police station.

Once there, police say, "As Mitchell was being escorted from the back seat of the police cruiser to the rear entrance of the police station, he sprinted from the back parking lot handcuffed ..."

Mitchell ran into the woods and police looked for him for hours, but couldn't find him.

The criminal complaint does not say when police eventually caught up to him.

Mitchell is charged with misdemeanors, but his bail has still been set at $50,000.

Cox Media Group