1:23File image of ambulances parked in front of the emergency entrance to Mt. Sinai, Beth Israel Hospital, New York City, May 9, 2020.SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images, FILE
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.
Yenchun Chen, 44, allegedly escaped from Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital in Manhattan, N.Y., on Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023.NYPD
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.
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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.
