The search for a suspected car thief in Northeast Bakersfield briefly forced an Oildale church to go into lockdown Tuesday morning.

A reported car thief was spotted in the area of Haley Street and Panorama Drive at 8:48 a.m., and when police arrived, the suspect ran away down the Panorama bluffs, said Bakersfield PD Sgt. Gary Carruesco.

Calvary Bible Church on Manor Street in Oildale was briefly placed on precautionary lockdown due to the police action in the area.

The suspect was eventually detained, and the lockdown at the church was lifted at around 9:15 a.m.