Prisoner Escapes from Manhattan Medical Center
In a daring escape, a prisoner who had just been arrested for gun possession managed to bolt from an Upper Manhattan medical center on Tuesday, leaving authorities scrambling to locate him. Eric Cruz, 29, made his getaway from NewYork-Presbyterian / Columbia University Irving Medical Center on West 168th Street near Broadway around 8:45 a.m. According to police reports, Cruz had been receiving medical treatment at the Washington Heights facility following his arrest just 11 hours earlier on a weapon possession charge.
In addition to the weapon possession charge, Cruz also faces an unlicensed general vendor charge. The escapee, last seen wearing a hospital gown, is believed to have fled into a nearby subway station and is currently at large. The 168th Street A, C, and 1 train station, located steps from the hospital, is a possible escape route that Cruz may have taken.
This incident marks the second prisoner escape in New York City in as many weeks. Just days earlier, Gilberto Sanchez, 50, managed to flee from the Brooklyn Hospital Center where he was being held on petit larceny and other charges. Sanchez was apprehended later that night by police at Bergen and Dean streets in Boerum Hill.
