Officer looked back to his patrol car and noticed the burglary suspect was gone

A manhunt got underway after a suspect allegedly caught riffling through cars in a Carolina Forest neighborhood bolted from the back of an Horry County police car, authorities said.

Police said the suspect was re-captured after a canine unit and more officers fanned out to find him.

Officers were first called Thursday about 9:50 p.m. to Carrington Drive in the Plantation Lakes neighborhood within Carolina Forest in reference to a complaint about a suspicious person, according to a police report.

Police met with a complainant who told them that a friend of his discovered someone inside their vehicle without permission. The man told police the suspect was still on the street, and authorities began investigating.

A sergeant detained a suspect who matched the description that had been given after the sergeant said he discovered the suspect digging through 46-year-old man’s vehicle. The victim told police he didn’t know the man they apprehended and said the suspect didn’t have permission to be in his vehicle and wanted to press charges, police said.

The suspect was then arrested and placed in the back of a police patrol car. The suspect was then driven back to where he had parked his vehicle. Police searched the suspect’s vehicle and found what appeared to be marijuana inside, according to the report.

The officer looked back to check on the suspect and said he didn’t see him and when he moved closer to his patrol car, he found an empty backseat.

A manhunt soon got underway after police checked nearby properties. A perimeter was set up and a Myrtle Beach Police Department canine was brought in to comb the area, along with more officers, the report states.

Police found the suspect, listed as Christian Andrew Lacombe, 26, in the incident report, and he was taken back into custody, authorities said.

Lacombe of Conway remained jailed at the J. Reuben Long Detention Center Friday and has been charged in connection with breaking into motor vehicle, resisting arrest, and possession of marijuana, online jail records.

This story was originally published March 10, 2017 at 10:31 AM with the headline "Officer looked back to his patrol car and noticed the burglary suspect was gone."