Hulking 'Spider-Man' prisoner who escaped NYC hospital is busted after more than a month on the lam:

September 2024 · 3 minute read

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The hulking prisoner who spent more than a month on the lam after he slipped out of a Manhattan hospital’s fifth-floor window was finally found on Tuesday — so badly bruised from his daring escape that he begged to be taken back to a doctor, authorities and sources said.

Yenchun Chen, 44, even allegedly appeared relieved when US Marshals caught up to him — so banged up he could barely speak — at around  6:15 a.m. in a building on 45th Avenue in Queens, the law enforcement sources said.

It wasn’t immediately unclear how long Chen – who was initially arrested July 31 on drug charges – had been holed up in the Long Island City building, which is located about a half mile from his own address, according to the NYPD.

The Department of Correction officers who were responsible for watching over him when he made his getaway from Mount Sinai Beth Israel were suspended for 30 days without pay, according to law enforcement sources.

Chen — who stands around 6-foot-3 and weighs about 250 pounds — managed to dodge capture for nearly five weeks in the aftermath of his broad-daylight escape from the Gramercy Park hospital on Aug. 9.

Authorities and sources had initially described a Spider Man-like feat — saying Chen used tied-together bedsheets to rappel part of the way down the side of the building, then climbed down a ladder to the street and caught a cab.

Chen, who stands around 6-foot-3 and weighs about 250 pounds, allegedly used bedsheets to escape from Mount Sinai Beth Israel on Aug. 9.

Investigators now believe Chen – who was hospitalized five days earlier for a cardiac issue – ran into trouble while making a break for it after he was escorted to the shower around 4:30 p.m. that day, the sources said.

At some point while attempting to use the makeshift rope, Chen fell and seriously hurt himself, according to the sources.

But despite his injuries, Chen was able to make it into a yellow taxi and take off, heading southbound on Second Avenue.

Chen was picked up in Queens by US Marshals and members of the city’s Correction Intelligence Bureau, the DOC said.

Hours later, the NYPD released photos of Chen as he was last seen fleeing the hospital, wearing a blank white T-shirt and tan pants. He also appeared to still have a hospital bracelet on his wrist.

The fugitive was tracked to somewhere in New Jersey the following day — and investigators checked out a few possible addresses where they thought Chen may have been hiding out – but wound up chasing their tails because he was nowhere to be found, authorities and sources have said.

Chen was relieved to see the Marshals when he was captured Tuesday – and asked to be taken back to a hospital, sources said.

Officers from the city’s Correction Intelligence Bureau were also involved in his capture, a spokesperson for the Department of Correction said.

His injuries were consistent with a fall, indicating that the bedsheets may not have worked so well, the sources said.  

Chen was initially tracked to a location in New Jersey, but investigators couldn’t find him there, sources said.

Chen was taken to the more secure Bellevue Hospital for medical evaluation and treatment, according to the NYPD and DOC. 

He now faces charges for escaping jail or custody, on top of the criminal possession of a controlled substance raps he was initially arrested on, the NYPD said.

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