Crook steals unmarked cop car in Jersey, drives with lights blaring to Manhattan before fleeing

It beats taking the bus!

A crook swiped a police cruiser in New Jersey then drove the unmarked gray Audi -- with lights flashing -- to Manhattan, where cops with helicopters and dogs fanned out for a dramatic search this morning.

A manhunt was underway Friday for a man authorities say stole a police vehicle at a New Jersey motel and tried to run down an officer before escaping over the George Washington Bridge.

The Bergen County Prosecutor's office has identified the suspect as Eduardo Santiago Carrasquillo and estimates he is between 25 and 35 years old.

Prosecutor John Molinelli said police were conducting an investigation around 10 a.m. Friday at the Skyview Motel in Fort Lee when Carrasquillo allegedly entered an unmarked police vehicle, struck one officer and tried to run another officer over.

Police fired shots at Carrasquillo but were not sure if he had been hit. Carrasquillo fled in the stolen vehicle over the George Washington Bridge, triggering a multi-agency manhunt in upper Manhattan that was still underway Friday afternoon.

The stolen police vehicle was recovered in New York City at 125th Street and Riverside Drive, but a police officer duty bag containing a department-issued raid jacket and .45-caliber ammunition was missing from the car, Molinelli said.

The prosecutor's office and the Fort Lee Police Department are asking the public to contact them with any information. Police say the suspect should be considered armed and dangerous.