Man escapes police custody by scaling down hospital wall with towels
Written by ABC Audio. All rights reserved. on August 10, 2023
(NEW YORK) — A prisoner tied linens together, jumped out a fifth floor window and rappelled down Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital in New York City to escape Department of Correction custody, according to police.
Yenchun Chen, 44, was supposedly taking a shower when he made his escape about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. Correction officers found the bathroom window open and Chen gone.
He tied towels and other linens together and scaled down the side of the hospital to the second floor, landing on an air conditioning unit, police said. From there, he used a ladder to get to street level, hailed a cab and was last seen heading south on Second Ave, police said.
Chen was arrested last month for criminal possession of a controlled substance and had been hospitalized for some kind of heart problem.
Police say Chen has a medium complexion, approximately 6’3 and weighs 250 pounds, with brown eyes and black hair. He has tattoos on his left arm and left hand.
Anyone with information on Chen’s location is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website.
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