UPDATE: Handcuffed teen escapes into woods

LITTLE ROCK, AR – Authorities are searching the woods for a teenager who escaped from a squad car and handcuffs and ran into the woods Monday afternoon.

An investigator with the Hot Spring County Sheriff’s Department tells Fox 16 that deputies responded to a home near Possum Trot and Brown Trail and arrested a 17-year-old for hitting his brother with a tire iron and pointing a gun at him. The incident happened around 2:15pm.

The boy was handcuffed and put in the back of a squad car. While the deputy was inside talking to the family, the teen escaped. The investigator says the arresting deputy had wrecked his car several weeks ago and his new one does not have a cage installed. The teen, in cuffs, hopped over the front seat and let himself out of the car.

The family tells deputies that the boy had been practicing escaping handcuffs. After the teen got out of the car he was able to get out of the handcuffs and ran into the woods.

Hot Spring County deputies, State Police, and Arkansas Game and Fish are all searching for him. He was last seen in the Social Hill area. He was last seen wearing a blue polo shirt, blue jeans, and tennis shoes.

If you see him, deputies say don’t try to apprehend him, call 911 instead.