Shoplifiting suspect who escaped police custody is recaptured

Police have caught the shoplifting suspect who escaped custody Thursday night as he was being transported to the 1st Precinct.

He was cuffed and lying in the back of a police cruiser on Franklin Street in Tribeca when he kicked through the back door and escaped at around 7:30 p.m. Thursday, according to law enforcement sources.

At one point, he was seen going into the Franklin Street subway station.

This is at least the sixth time this year a suspect has escaped while in police custody in the city. The other three suspects were caught within days of their escapes, police said. “We’re looking into that”, a police source said.

“It looks like he had so many different names that they started looking at some of the phone numbers associated with the names and they wound up with this particular outreach group home he had called”, a police source said.

Police searched for him, shutting down 1 trains between 14th Street and South Ferry and 2,3 trains between 14th and Wall Streets in the process.

The incident was the latest in a series of getaway attempts by suspects who were apprehended by police.

People NY1 spoke with said they can’t believe it happened again.