By Heather Grossmann
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — The career criminal who escaped custody in Manhattan Criminal Court on Wednesday was caught getting off a city bus in Washington Heights last night.
Police acting on a tip apprehended the escape artist, Ronald Tackman, shortly before 9 p.m on his 56th birthday. He reportedly hid with a friend in the area for most of the 36-hour duration of his escape.
As authorities sent Tackman back behind bars, the Department of Correction was in the midst of a full review of security procedures in the wake of the escape. Two of the officers involved have already been reassigned.
A guard took off Tackman’s handcuffs before his escape, according to the New York Post, despite a procedural policy that inmates should have their handcuffs removed only once they are inside a holding cell.
The incident has also led to a change in policy at Riker’s Island, where Tackman had been incarcerated. As of today, all Riker's inmates classified as flight risks will be required to wear orange jumpsuits when they travel between the jail and court.
Court officers apparently assumed Tackman, who was wearing a three-piece suit, was a lawyer, and let him walk out of the building on Wednesday. One officer even addressed Tackman as “counselor” on his way out, according to the Daily News.
Tackman has a history of escape attempts. He twice tried to hijack jail buses in 1985. During the second attempt, he fired a handmade weapon.
Wednesday was his first successful bit at freedom.
After he eluded guards at the court, Tackman went to his mother’s home on the Upper East Side, where he changed clothing. His unsuspecting mother assumed he had been discharged, and did not question his actions.
Tackman was appearing before Judge Richard Carruthers on charges of a 2007 armed robbery. He was supposed to appear in a Queens court on similar robbery charges on Thursday.
He is expected to be arraigned on escape charges, in addition to the charges already pending.
