Police still searching for prisoner who escaped from NYC hospital

Written by ABC Audio ALL RIGHTS RESERVED on August 11, 2023

(NEW YORK) — Yenchun Chen, 44, repelled out a hospital window Wednesday afternoon using towels and linens he had requested from staff.

Authorities are still searching for Yenchun Chen after he jumped out a fifth floor window and rappelled down Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital in New York City to evade Department of Correction authorities, according to police.

Yenchun Chen, 44, was supposedly taking a shower when he made his escape about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. Correction officers found the bathroom window open and Chen gone.

He tied towels and other linens together and scaled down the side of the hospital to the second floor, landing on an air conditioning unit, police said. From there, he used a ladder to get to street level, hailed a cab and was last seen heading south on Second Ave, police said.

Chen was arrested last month for criminal possession of a controlled substance and had been hospitalized for some kind of heart problem.

Police say Chen has a medium complexion, approximately 6-foot-3 and weighs 250 pounds, with brown eyes and black hair. He has tattoos on his left arm and left hand. A man taken into custody earlier this afternoon in New Jersey turned out to be someone other than the escaped prisoner, police said.

ABC News’ Mark Crudele contributed to this report.