Alleged police car thief surrenders

KOUTS, Ind., Jan. 13 (UPI) -- Indiana police said a man accused of stealing and wrecking a police cruiser while handcuffed surrendered to officers at his home.

Kouts Police Chief James Boyce said William Blankenship of Knox, Ind., was arrested on drug charges Tuesday after being pulled over for speeding and he managed to move his handcuffs to the front of his body and get into the driver's seat of the patrol car while the officer was searching his vehicle, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Friday.

Boyce said Blankenship drove away in the patrol car and used its radio to ask dispatchers where he could find the vehicle's cigarette lighter and keys to remove his cuffs.

The vehicle was found Wednesday morning "wrecked and submerged in water" in a drainage ditch, the Porter County Sheriff's Office said.

Boyce said a pair of Indiana State Police troopers went to Blankenship's home Thursday night and he voluntarily surrendered himself.

Blankenship was taken to the Porter County Jail.