Greenwich Village & SoHo

Crime & Mayhem

Shirtless Prisoner in Leg Shackles Escapes Police Custody, NYPD Says

December 29, 2016 4:59pm | Updated December 29, 2016 6:56pm
Daniel Ortiz, 31, escaped from police around 3:30 p.m. near Seventh Avenue and West 12th Street.
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NYPD

WEST VILLAGE — A prisoner wearing no shirt and leg shackles managed to escape police custody in Manhattan on Thursday afternoon after breaking out of a hospital, according to the NYPD.

Officials said Daniel Ortiz, 31, broke free around 3:30 p.m. from a Lenox Hill Health Plex Hospital near Seventh Avenue and West 12th Street.

Ortiz hadn't been arrested as of Friday morning.

The detainee is believed to have gotten on the subway, according to a police source.

Ortiz is described as around 5-foot-6 and 130 pounds, with brown curly hair and brown eyes, police said. He was last seen wearing a dark pea coat, dark blue jeans, chocolate boots, no shirt and leg shackles attached to one side and tucked into his shoes.

Officials say he walks with a noticeable limp and may be bleeding from his wrist.

The NYPD did not immediately have additional details how Ortiz escaped or why he was in custody.

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