Escaped Prisoner Shimmies Down Sheets From 5th Floor Of NYC Hospital

NEW YORK CITY — An escaped prisoner used tied-up bedsheets to flee from a fifth-floor Manhattan hospital window, then hailed a cab and vanished, according to police and reports.

Yenchun Chen, 44, remained on the loose Thursday morning after his escape from Mount Sinai Beth Israel on the Lower East Side about 4:30 p.m., NYPD officials said.

Chen tied up sheets inside a hospital shower then climbed down to a roof where he found a ladder to the street, the New York Post reports.

Chen then took yellow cab headed down Second Avenue, and hasn't been seen by police since, authorities said.

Chen was in Correction department custody after a July 31 drug arrest and hospitalized Friday over a heart issue, according to the Post.

Police asked the public to look out for the 6-foot-3-inch tall, 250-pound Chen, who also has tattoos on his left arm and left hand.

People with information are asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or, for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). They can also submit tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, or on Twitter @NYPDTips.