A burglary suspect is in the Birmingham City Jail after authorities say the handcuffed man stole a police cruiser and drove away from the crime scene.

West Precinct officers were dispatched Sunday to a house in the 300 block of Memphis Street in Wylam. Police searched the house and found the 28-year-old suspect inside, said Lt. Scott Thurmond.

Officers handcuffed his hands behind him and put him in the back seat of the patrol car. During the search, an officer had cut his arm so paramedics came to the scene. While the medics were treating the officer, the suspect managed to get his hands in front of him and climb from the back seat into the front seat, Thurmond said.

The suspect drove to the 4600 block of Ninth Avenue in Wylam, bailed from the car and ran away on foot. Witnesses pointed police in the direction of the fleeing man, who was captured one block away hiding in weeds behind an abandoned home. "It was short,'' Thurmond said of the suspect's time on the run.

Thurmond said they aren't yet sure how the suspect managed the feat. "We're still looking to see how he did it,'' he said. "We've seen it before, especially when they're young and flexible."

The man is expected to be formally charged on Monday. His name hasn't been released pending those formal charges.