Escaped Brooklyn Heights Prisoner Caught 3 Weeks Later, Cops Say

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — An escaped prisoner who led an hours-long manhunt in Brooklyn Heights has been caught, nearly four weeks after police first mistakenly said they had found him only to reveal he was still on the loose.

Tyquan Ellison, 20, first slipped from police on Oct. 7 in the back of the Kings County Criminal Courthouse on Schermerhorn Street, setting off a man-hunt that put several nearby schools on alert and had police and a helicopter descend on the neighborhood.

Ellison had been arrested in Southern Brooklyn's 60th Precinct on robbery charges before he escaped, police said.

Police first said Ellison was caught a few hours after he escaped, but later revealed that was actually a "mix-up in communication." He stayed on the loose until this week.

NYPD Chief Dermot Shea announced Friday morning that Ellison had been caught by the Regional Fugitive Task Force. He faces robbery, burglary and larceny charges, Shea said.

The search for Ellison had caused confusion, as it took more than 24 hours for cops to release his name or photo, along with an updated description of him. When he first escaped, officers gave varying descriptions to different news outlets during the search, telling Pix11 he was 6'1, the Brooklyn Paper he was 5'9 and Patch he was 170 pounds and 5'1, which would make him morbidly obese.

He was ultimately described as standing 5'11" and weighing 170lbs.

The escaped prisoner miscommunication came only a week after another NYPD mix-up in Brooklyn where officers said a man who fired a gun in MetroTech plaza had been caught, only to announce that they were still looking for the shooter days later.

In that case, police could not definitively tell Patch what happened with the 60-year-old man that was originally put in custody for the shooting and could only say that it appeared he was not to be the person who shot the gun because no charges were filed against him.