A man who was arrested overnight for possession of a stolen car escaped RCMP custody this morning by stealing another car … this time a police cruiser.

Police say they're now searching for a 26-year-old man.

The man escaped custody near Thorsby, Alta., around 9 a.m. Monday while being transferred from one RCMP detachment to another.

He jumped into the driver's seat of a police cruiser and drove off.

The cruiser car was found a short time later abandoned near Warburg. Police say nothing was taken from the car.

As a precaution, Warburg School was briefly locked down while RCMP used aircraft and police dog units to search for the man.

The school lockdown has since been lifted.

The man was not armed and does not have a history of violence, police said.

He remains on the run.