Escaped prisoner Alleem Borden eluded police Tuesday after jumping down 30-foot embankment, U.S. Marshals say

U.S. Marshals said they were hoping for additional confirmed sightings of escaped prisoner Alleem Borden after he was again able to elude authorities following an encounter in West Philadelphia on Tuesday afternoon.

“It was heartbreaking that we weren’t able to get him,” supervising Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert Clark said at a news conference Wednesday.

Borden, 29, escaped from police custody at Temple University’s Episcopal Hospital on Lehigh Avenue in North Philadelphia at 6:42 a.m. Monday after having been taken to the facility complaining of pain shortly after he was arrested in connection with a car theft. He was seen minutes later at a gas station on the corner of North Front Street and East Lehigh Avenue, and again entering a home on the 2700 block of Hope Street on Monday in West Kensington before getting into a gold-colored Honda and being driven off.

After U.S. Marshals became involved in the search for him Tuesday, investigators were able to identify a residence on the 5300 block of West Columbia Avenue in Wynnefield that Borden was known to frequent, Clark said. At 3:15 p.m. Tuesday, 10 U.S. Marshals personnel knocked on the door of the residence, and a male later confirmed to be Borden ran from the back of the home, jumping down a 30-foot embankment onto the SEPTA train tracks below. Borden then continued to flee north.

Investigators were unable to cut off Borden’s escape path, and a tracking effort of the area conducted with Philadelphia Police Department canines and U.S. Marshals investigators was unsuccessful, Clark said.

The effort, Clark added, was hampered by bad weather Tuesday that made it dangerous for investigators to pursue Borden down the embankment.

“It just wasn’t worth the safety of my officers to take that jump and try to pursue him,” Clark said.

No confirmed sightings of Borden have been reported to authorities since then. No one associated with the homes or vehicle where Borden has been spotted had been charged as part of the case as of Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.

Clark said that investigators are offering a $2,500 reward for information that leads to Borden’s arrest. He added that anyone who encounters Borden should contact the police and not attempt to apprehend him personally.

“Let us know what residence he goes into, what corner store, where he’s hanging out and how you know,” Clark said. “Those types of tips are invaluable to us.”

Borden, he said, has a criminal record that shows a history of escaping police custody, having access to firearms, and possible mental health and substance use issues. As a result, investigators consider him “possibly armed, dangerous, and undoubtedly desperate,” Clark said.

Police initially arrested Borden Sunday after he was suspected of stealing a running Hyundai Elantra owned by a person making a food delivery on Frankford Avenue Thursday, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest. Previously, he pleaded guilty to resisting arrest and flight to avoid apprehension in connection with a 2020 escape incident.

Authorities ask that anyone with information about Borden’s whereabouts call 911 or 1-866-865-TIPS.