Manhunt After Parolee Who Escapes Midtown Office, State Says

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — A parolee is on the loose after escaping a Midtown Manhattan state Department of Corrections facility after finding out he would be sent to a treatment facility for violating his parole, state officials said.

Travis Simon, 30, who was granted release in February, fled the West 40th Street and Eighth Avenue parole office around 5 p.m., state officials said. Parole officers informed the felon that he was going to be sent to a 45-day program right before the man's escape.

"Community Supervision staff have been working with the parolee since his release on various violations of his conditions of parole. During a recent office report, it was determined he violated his conditions in an important respect and he was being referred to a 45-day treatment program in NYC when he fled custody," state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision spokesperson Thomas Mailey said in a statement.

Simon was sentenced to seven years in prison after being convicted of first-degree assault in New York City in 2011, according to state corrections records. He was found guilty of slashing a man in the neck in Harlem, state officials said. Simon's parole was set to end in 2022, according to state records.

A spokesman for the NYPD referred questions about the man's escape ans subsequent search to the state parole office.