A handcuffed suspect escaped an NYPD van as he was being transported to court in the Bronx early Tuesday, sparking a brief manhunt, police said.
Cops caught the 5-foot-8 suspect after a three-and-a-half hour search, police said.
The suspect was being transported with two other men from the 48th Precinct stationhouse in Belmont to central booking at Bronx Criminal Court about 5:30 a.m. when he vaulted out of the vehicle near Park Ave. and Claremont Parkway in Mott Haven.
The escape happened about five blocks from the stationhouse. The suspect was still handcuffed when he ran off.
Scores of officers were sent into the area to search for the escapee, who was found hiding in a building on Park Ave. a short distance from where he gave cops the slip, officials said.
The name of the escapee was not immediately released. Additional criminal charges were pending against him.
The escape comes one week after gun suspect Eric Cruz managed to slip away from a cop watching him at New York-Presbyterian Hospital Columbia in Manhattan and run off while still wearing a hospital gown.
Originally Published:
