(QMI Agency/MAXIME DELAND, file)

L'Epiphanie, QUE. - While provincial police were responding to a distress call early Saturday morning, a 39-year-old man allegedly got behind the wheel of their police cruiser and took off.

Officers found the car a few hours later but not the suspect.

Police said they got a call around 4 a.m. regarding an alleged assault at a home in L'Epiphanie, Que., about 50 km north of Montreal.

When the officers arrived at the house and got out of their Dodge Charger, they said, the suspect snuck in and drove away.

By 8 a.m. police found the vehicle. Police said the car was ditched not far from where they had parked it.

However, the 39-year-old suspect was still on the loose as of Saturday afternoon. Police said he will likely be charged with vehicle theft.