A man who ran on foot after a car thief Saturday through downtown St. Paul caught the suspect and punched him unconscious in a pursuit that went from the street to the skyways, police said Monday.

St. Paul police said the incident started about 3 p.m. Saturday when a 24-year-old man, who was working at Keys Cafe on Robert Street, noticed that his friend’s car was being driven away.

The man had borrowed the 2006 Dodge Charger and left it running in a parking lot, according to police spokesman Steve Linders.

The victim started chasing after the car on foot, Linders said. The thief hit a concrete pole in the parking lot, but kept going. But when the thief stopped at a red light on Robert and Seventh streets, the victim jumped into the passenger seat and ordered the thief out of the car, Linders said.

Instead, the thief put the car in reverse and hit the car behind him, Linders said. The thief then jumped out and ran off with the 24-year-old man chasing him, Linders said.

The chase went into the downtown skyway system, through Town Square and up and down two escalators, Linders said. At one point, the car thief lost a shoe, but kept running, and the victim picked up the shoe and kept chasing, Linders said.

The chase had reached Cedar Street when the thief stopped running and the victim punched him three or four times, Linders said. When paramedics arrived, the thief was lying unconscious on the steps of a vestibule to the former Macy’s department store on Cedar Street, Linders said.

The suspect was taken by ambulance to Regions Hospital and was in fair but stable condition Sunday, Linders said.

Linders said that so far no one has been arrested or charged.

“This one may take some time to sort out,” he said.

Richard Chin can be reached at 651-228-5560. Follow him at twitter.com/RRChin.