A search was underway in California Wednesday for a sheriff’s deputy who escaped from custody after being arrested Tuesday for the second time since allegedly pulling a gun on a group of teens three days days earlier, authorities said.
"We don’t know what his mindset is, we don’t know what his motivation is at this point,” Kern County sheriff’s spokesman Ray Pruitt told NBC affiliate KGET in Bakersfield Wednesday.
A reward of $5,000 was being offered for information leading to the arrest of Deputy Edward Gordon Tucker, who was arrested Tuesday but managed to escape from his handcuffs and reach through a cracked patrol car window to escape as two deputies did paperwork, Pruitt said.
"It appears the rear window had been lowered somewhat, and he was able to reach out through the window and reach the door handle on the outside and open the door," Pruitt said.
Tucker has been a deputy for 18 years but has been on leave for what was described as a "personal issue," the station reported.
Tucker was arrested Saturday on suspicion of being under the influence when he allegedly approached a group of juveniles, said he was looking for someone, and at one point brandished a firearm, KGET reported. He bailed out of jail after his arrest.
Then on Tuesday, Tucker was arrested after a friend requested a welfare check and officers allegedly found guns and suspected methamphetamine in his car, the station reported.
