LOGAN, Utah (ABC 4 News) – A handcuffed man who escaped from a Utah Highway Patrol car Wednesday night remains on the loose.
The Cache Rich Drug task force has been investigating 23-year-old Osvaldo “Ozzie” Miranda as part of a heroin investigation. With the help of Utah Highway patrol a felony stop was made on Miranda’s vehicle at mile marker 20 on Highway 89/91 Wednesday.
More than a half pound of heroin was found inside Miranda’s truck. During the investigation Miranda was handcuffed and placed in the back of Sgt. Jason Kendrick’s squad car.
Sgt. Kendrick said, “They began to process the vehicle, got a warrant, served him his paperwork and read him his rights. He simply needed to be transported to Cache County Jail. He was already in handcuffs and seatbelted in, so we agreed to just simply transport him to jail.”
Kendrick was a couple of miles into the short drive to the jail when he heard Miranda adjusting in his seat. “I just told him to relax we’re almost there and about as quickly as that happened the door popped open and he started to run,” said Kendrick.
Miranda was able to somehow undo his seatbelt, reach up to the door handle and jump out at a red light at 200 North 1000 West in Logan.
Kendrick admitted he thought the child safety lock was on which would have prevented Miranda from escaping.
Kendrick stopped the car, called dispatch announcing the suspect had escaped and asked for back up. Several officers from several agencies responded including a search dog. They searched several square miles for more than 3 hours finally calling off the search around 1 am.
Miranda is described as a Hispanic male about 5’10” weighing 145 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. He has a very distinguishing tattoo on his left arm; on his upper shoulder is the words “Good Times,” and on his lower left arm are the words, “Bad Times,” with pictures of clowns. If you see this man you’re asked to contact your local police department.
