The petty theft of a bottle of vodka led to a police pursuit and a suspect’s successful getaway into a cornfield Monday night, police say.

According to Sgt. Trent McKinley, Lawrence Police Department spokesman, it happened this way: Just before 9 p.m. Monday, officers responded to a report from On the Rocks Liquor, 1818 Massachusetts St., that a man had stolen a $60 bottle of Belvedere Red Vodka.

Employees gave a description and license number of the man’s getaway car, which was registered to someone living outside of Lawrence, McKinley said. Officers then went with Douglas County Sheriff’s deputies to find the suspected thief outside city limits.

At some point officers determined that they would not find the suspect, so they headed back toward Lawrence. On the drive back, an officer passed the vehicle they had been looking for just east of town in the 1600 block of North 1500 Road. The officer turned around to pursue the vehicle.

The officer found the car stopped in the roadway close to railroad tracks with the passenger-side door open and a female driver inside. McKinley said the suspected man had gotten out of the car and run into a cornfield, successfully fleeing police.

The stolen vodka was found in the vehicle partially consumed, McKinley said.

The driver, 21-year-old Cherlynn Nicole Rachel, of Lawrence, was taken into custody on an outstanding warrant, according to the Douglas County Jail’s booking log.

Though officers did not find the suspect, McKinley said he was identified and is a person who has four active warrants in Douglas County. McKinley could not release the suspect’s name as a theft suspect because he has not been arrested or charged in the case.