07/25/18 Charlotte-Mecklenburg, NC – Handcuffed 20 Year Old Male Crawls Through Cage And Steals Charlotte-Mecklenburg Patrol Car – Patrol Car Found Empty – Helicopter – Dogs Can’t Find Him

www.charlotteobserver.com/

A man stole a Charlotte-Mecklenburg patrol car and drove off with it while he was under arrest Tuesday, police said Wednesday.

The car was found about six miles away, but the man is still at large as of Wednesday afternoon, police said.

Dontray Antonio Pharr, 20, was handcuffed in the back of the patrol car around 4 p.m. Tuesday on Sunset Road in north Charlotte, police said.

A “very small” interior window was left open to allow air conditioning to reach Pharr in the car, police said.

While officers were searching Pharr’s car, Pharr managed to move his handcuffed hands from behind his back to his front and then squeeze through the interior window and drive away, police said.

Pharr is about 5-foot-10, according to the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office.

Officers used dogs and a CMPD helicopter to search for him after they found the car Tuesday, but they were unsuccessful.

Pharr has active warrants for his arrest on charges of impersonating law enforcement, larceny of a motor vehicle, marijuana possession, possession of drug paraphernalia, fleeing to elude arrest, aggressive driving, injury to personal property and possession of counterfeit instruments.

CMPD is looking for a way to modify its cars so no one can get through the small interior window, according to a news release.