SUMMIT TWP — The search continued Tuesday for a 15-year-old boy who state police said escaped the Summit Academy reform school and stole a vehicle from a nearby home over the weekend.

Police said they were notified of the escape around 9:50 p.m. Saturday. Authorities believe the teen, who is black and from Charleston, W.Va., left by way of an unlocked door.

Troopers searched the area, but could not find the youth.

Police suspect that the boy then stole a red, Mazda CX-5 sport utility vehicle between midnight and 7:30 a.m. Sunday. The SUV was parked at a home on the 700 block of Herman Road about four-tenths of a mile from the school.

Police Cpl. Tim Morando said the vehicle was unlocked and the owner had left the key inside. The vehicle had the Pennsylvania license plate HBJ-0779.

Summit Academy spokesman Dick Roberts on Tuesday said he had no other information about the boy's escape.

The escape is the latest in a number of similar incidents at the facility, which is a private, residential program for boys and young men, ages 14 to 19, who have committed juvenile and adult criminal offenses.

Five boys broke out of the school over the weekend of June 15 and 16. Two of the teens are accused of stealing a vehicle. All of the boys, ages 16 and 17, were caught June 17.

The five boys were listed as runaways, not escapees, police said, because they were not placed there for criminal matters. Rather, they are considered dependents, or wards of the state.

The designation could include children with no family or those in the custody of a public child welfare agency, such as Children and Youth Services.

The two boys suspected of stealing the vehicle near the school June 16 were captured by state police in Fayette County about 85 miles south of the facility.