Man Escapes Police Custody at West Village Hospital

WEST VILLAGE, NY — Police are searching for a man who escaped custody while receiving medical attention at a West Village Hospital.

Daniel Ortiz, 31, was able to slip away from police Thursday afternoon and walk out of the Lenox Health Greenwich Village hospital on 7th Avenue and West 13th Street, police said. Police are still searching for Ortiz, who was in custody for petit larceny, police told Patch.

Ortiz is described as standing 5-foot-6 and weighing 130 pounds with brown eyes and brown curly hair, police told Patch. He was wearing a dark colored pea coat, dark blue jeans, chocolate boots and no shirt when he escaped from the hospital, police said. Police believe Ortiz will be walking around with a noticeable limp.

Ortiz is also believed to be wearing leg shackles, attached to only one side of his leg and may be bleeding from the wrist, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or 1-888-57-PISTA (74782) for Spanish. The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers website or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) and entering TIP577. All tips are confidential.

Photos by NYPD