Suspect mistakes cop car for taxi, gets free ride to Portage la Prairie police station

A young man suspected of causing a disturbance in Portage la Prairie ended up with a free ride to police headquarters after RCMP say he mistook an unmarked cop car for a taxi — and hopped in.

Police say two cruisers — one a marked car, the other unmarked — responded to a report of an intoxicated male causing a disturbance in the Manitoba city, roughly 83 km west of Winnipeg, around 5 a.m. Saturday.

The 19-year-old suspect fled from officers, but after spotting the undercover car, police say he willingly jumped in the back seat.

“Take me to 17th Street, bro,” the teen told officers before realizing he wasn’t in a cab, according to a tweet from Manitoba RCMP Wednesday.

In a follow-up tweet, police say the officers “obliged and taxied him to the detachment, where he was held until he was sober.”

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Police say the young man was eventually released without charges.

0:55 Manitoba RCMP ‘quite confident’ there’s evidence that may link home razed by fire to Portage la Prairie homicide