Handcuffed Suspect Bolts, Found Hiding Near Air Conditioner

PALM DESERT, CA — A 45-year-old parolee wanted on a felony warrant was arrested and placed in handcuffs last week during an auto-theft enforcement operation in Palm Desert, but took off running which sparked a law-enforcement search that ended with the man being discovered hiding near an apartment air conditioner, according to officials.

The Riverside Auto-Theft Interdiction Detail task force on July 3 at 11:30 a.m. was conducting vehicle checks at an apartment complex on the 77000 block of County Club Drive when encountering in one car a passenger, Rene Alejos, who was on parole and had a felony warrant, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department said Tuesday.

Alejos was arrested and handcuffed, but as officers searched the car, and discovered evidence allegedly related to methamphetamine sales, the suspect ran from the scene — still handcuffed, officials said.

A search, involving law enforcement from the Palm Desert Sheriff's Station, Riverside Sheriff K-9s and a Sheriff's helicopter, turned up Alejos, reportedly still handcuffed and hiding near an air conditioner on the side of an apartment building, deputies said.

He was taken into custody without incident and was uninjured, the department said.

R.A.I.D. is a multi-agency task force with personnel from the California Highway Patrol, the Riverside Sheriff’s Department, police departments from Riverside, Cathedral City and Murrieta, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, the National Insurance Crime Bureau and the Department of Insurance. Its mission is to investigate, arrest and prosecute criminals responsible for auto-theft.

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