Handcuffed Man Steals Arnold Police SUV, Crashes

ARNOLD, MO — For the second time in less than a year, a prisoner handcuffed in the back of an Arnold police vehicle has somehow escaped. The Post-Dispatch reports the latest incident happened Monday morning on Dudler Street in Arnold, Missouri.

According to police, 23-year-old Emir Muhic was arrested and placed in handcuffs after a neighbor accused him of stealing tools from a parked van. The arresting officer left the Ford Explorer SUV idling while he took a witness statement, and somehow Muhic was able to get out of the handcuffs and crawl through a small air vent in the partition separating the prisoner area from the SUV's front seats.

“He shimmied through that little window and took off,” Arnold police Lt. Clinton Wooldridge told the Post-Dispatch.

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Muhic then drove away as the officer tried to open the driver's side door. Authorities say the officer was struck by the vehicle but was not injured.

Muhic crashed into a neighbor's yard after a short chase and has been charged with second-degree assault and resisting arrest, in addition to the original crime of theft.

In December, 2017, a similar incident left Arnold Police officer Ryan O'Connor in critical condition after a 29-year-old burglary suspect, Chad L. Klahs, escaped from handcuffs in the back of a police SUV and managed to access a gun he had concealed from the officer. Klahs shot O'Connor then shot himself in the head. O'Connor survived the shooting after multiple surgeries.

As in every case, charges are merely accusations, not proof of guilt.

Read more from the Post-Dispatch.

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