THE BRONX — A handcuffed prisoner managed to flee the NYPD after a scuffle with arresting officers Monday night, police said.
Narciso Rosario, 19, and Jose Sanchez, 26, were in a car near East 178th Street and Hughes Avenue about 9:40 p.m. when police pulled them over and handcuffed them after finding drugs, an NYPD spokesman said.
Sanchez, who's been arrested five times and also goes by "Juan," began struggling with officers as they tried to restrain him, officials said.
During the diversion, Rosario, who still had his hands cuffed behind him, got up and fled north on Hughes Avenue toward East 179th Street, police said.
Rosario, of Tremont, hadn't been caught as of Tuesday morning, police said.
He's about 6 feet tall, weighs roughly 190 pounds and was last seen wearing a black jacket, black baseball cap, dark jeans and multi-colored sneakers, police said.
He's been arrested nine times before, though records for five of those cases are sealed, police said.
He was arrested in September 2013 for criminal possession of marijuana, and in December for criminal sale of the drug, police said.
He was arrested again for marijuana possession in December 2014, police said.
He was arrested on May 27 for burglary, the mugshot from which police released Monday night.
Sanchez was still awaiting formal charges for the incident on Monday night, an NYPD spokesman said.
His rap sheet includes charges for criminal possession of a weapon in 2007 and trying to sell drugs in 2009, police said.
Sanchez was also convicted in 2011 for criminal sale of a controlled substance near a school, prison records show. He was paroled the next year.