SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A handcuffed suspect escaped from the downtown San Diego police station Sunday but was back in custody about an hour later when police surrounded him in the harbor water near the G Street Pier, police said.
The 42-year-old, who was in custody on suspicion of domestic violence, made it about a mile and a half from the station after his 1:15 p.m. escape, but was re-arrested about 2:30 p.m.
The circumstances of his temporary dash to freedom weren't immediately clear, San Diego Police Department officer Dino Delimitros said.
"He was being processed right here in headquarters," Delimitros said, referring to the SDPD central station at 1401 Broadway. "Somehow between interviews with detectives and during the intake process, he got away."
Delimitros described him as being dangerous despite the handcuffs because he was a "violent criminal" but said he likely wasn't armed.
Shortly after the escape, patrol officers were seen slowly driving westbound on Broadway, looking down cross streets and studying crowded street corners bustling with pedestrians as Comic-Con attendees roamed the city on the convention's last day.
Inside the 7-Eleven convenience store at the City College trolley stop, a police officer asked employees to be on the lookout for the suspect.
"He's wearing handcuffs," the officer told two workers. "If you see him, call 911."
At about 2 p.m., police radio traffic indicated an officer spotted the suspect in downtown and chased him to the harbor near the G Street Pier, where he entered the water. Officers on land cut off his escape routes, while a Harbor Police boat penned him in from the water.
"We've got him surrounded and he's only a danger to himself being in the water with handcuffs on," Sgt. Jordan Wells said as officers waited to take him back into custody.
The suspect was detained at about 2:30 p.m., a little more than an hour after his escape. Photos and videos posted to social media showed him walking out of the water shirtless and surrounded by police officers.