Handcuffed Prisoner Steals Cop Car, Rams Into Officer, Runs Off Into The Night

The NYPD is asking the public for help in apprehending a prisoner who escaped from custody last night in Glendale, Queens. The official report from the NYPD is short on details; we know the prisoner, Bryan McMenamin, was arrested for allegedly selling "narcotics," and that he escaped shortly before 7 p.m. near Forest Park. But the Post's sources suggest that McMenamin pulled off quite the escape, somehow pulling his cuffed hands "around his body" and stealing the unmarked car in which he was being held:

Bryan McMenamin was busted for at 7 p.m. for allegedly selling heroin, and was left in the back of the car with a second suspect when cops went to investigate another crime, according to law-enforcement sources.

McMenamin allegedly scrambled into the front seat and sped off before parking about one mile away and running off. When cops found the car, they discovered the second man still in the back, pleading with them to believe he had “nothing to do with taking the car."

The Daily News doesn't know anything about McMenamin stealing an unmarked police car, but the tabloid reports that he rammed a Jeep Grand Cherokee into a detective who tried to stop him. The NYPD also confirms that a Queens Narcotics Detective "sustained an injury to his right leg" while trying to apprehend McMenamin at the intersection of Cooper Avenue and 59th Street.

ABC 7 reports that McMenamin dragged the detective down the street. Meanwhile, his partner commandeered another vehicle to give chase:

Miguel Figueroa said his daughter was behind the wheel of a Hyundai Sonata when she looked up and saw the officer running toward her with his gun drawn, screaming for her to please give up her car.

"She didn't want to give up the car until he said I'm an officer," he said. "Then she got out, and he got into the car...It's like something you hear on TV. I've never heard of that before, they commandeer a car to chase someone, a perp."

Figueroa said his daughter initially thought she was being carjacked, as the officer had a gun in one hand an a police radio in the other. But when she saw his badge, she knew it was a real situation and hopped out. The officer had the car for a couple of minutes, but soon returned. There was some damage to the car.

McMenamin reportedly ditched the vehicle in the parking lot of the Ridgewood Post Office parking lot and ran off, handcuffs presumably still around his wrists. Police describe him as a 38 year-old white male, approximately 5'8", having a bald head, wearing a white T-shirt, blue jeans and black sneakers.

Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.

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