Suspect escapes from handcuffs, patrol unit outside Victorville police station

VICTORVILLE, Calif. (KABC) -- A search continued on Monday for a narcotics suspect who slipped out of a pair of handcuffs and escaped from police custody in Victorville, authorities said.

Charles Brown, 31, had been arrested about 4:10 p.m. Sunday on suspicion of transportation of narcotics, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said in a statement. He was then driven to the Victorville Police Department to be interviewed by deputies.

According to the news release, Brown was in the back seat of a marked patrol unit when he "was able to slip one hand out of his handcuffs and exit the patrol car."

After the suspect fled on foot, a search was launched by deputies, a sheriff's aircraft unit and a K-9 unit, to no avail.

Brown, an Adelanto resident, is described as black, 6 feet tall, weighing between 160 and 170 pounds, with short black hair, brown eyes and a tattoo of the letter B on the bridge of his nose.

He was last seen wearing a white shirt, black sweatpants and black Nike Air Force One shoes.

Anyone with information about Brown's whereabouts is asked to call 911 or the sheriff's department's dispatch center at (760) 956-5001.