Man escapes police custody at Philadelphia hospital

A prisoner escaped police custody in Philadelphia on Monday morning and has not been found, authorities said.

Alleem Borden, 29, escaped from Episcopal Hospital on East Lehigh Avenue — part of the Temple Health system — at 6:42 a.m., police said.

Borden was in police custody for vehicle theft and was taken to the hospital after complaining of pain, Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore said.

Despite being handcuffed, Borden escaped while being discharged from the hospital, Vanore said. Borden fled and made his way to a gas station on the corner of North Front Street and East Lehigh Avenue, Vanore said, and was last spotted on video in the 2700 block of North Hancock Street.

Police conducted a “pretty intense” search Monday morning during which a few schools were placed on lockdown, but Borden was not found, Vanore said. He remains at large.

Vanore described Borden as about 5 feet, 6 inches tall and weighing about 145 pounds, with a beard and his hair in braids. When he escaped, he was wearing a blue and black plaid shirt, blue jeans, and brown boots. Police were reviewing surveillance footage in the area where Borden was last seen, said Vanore.

Borden was accused of stealing a running Hyundai Elantra owned by someone who was making a food delivery on Frankford Avenue on Thursday, Vanore said. Police found Borden sleeping in the car on Sunday and he attempted to flee then, but didn’t get far.

“He was stopped very quickly and arrested,” Vanore said.

Borden’s escape from police custody comes less than a month after Shane Pryor, 18, escaped from the custody of Juvenile Justice Services Center staffers while he was being transported to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for treatment of a hand injury. He broke free of his shackles and pushed past two unarmed staffers, fleeing on foot, police said.

Pryor went in and out of buildings in the University City neighborhood before approaching a bystander and asking to use their phone, police said. He called his friend Michael Diggs, 18, who picked him up in a Ford Fusion and drove him out of the area, police said.

The teen was apprehended four days after his escape when U.S. Marshals spotted him boarding a SEPTA bus between the Feltonville and Olney neighborhoods. Pryor was charged with escape, aggravated assault, hindering apprehension, simple assault, and recklessly endangering another person for breaking free from custody.

Borden’s escape Monday was not his first run-in with the law, with criminal charges dating back to 2015 and a previous escape from police custody in 2020, according to court records.

In April 2020, a Johnstown woman told police Borden refused to leave her apartment, according to the probable cause affidavit for his arrest. After speaking with officers, Borden agreed to leave the apartment and did so without incident, authorities said.

After Borden left the woman’s apartment, police looked up the black Lincoln sedan he was driving and learned it had been reported stolen, authorities said. As one officer tried to grab Borden’s wrists to bring him in for questioning, Borden pulled away and pushed the officer to the ground before fleeing on foot, authorities said. Borden pleaded guilty in June 2020 to resisting arrest and flight to avoid apprehension, according to court records.

In 2021, Borden was charged with simple assault, aggravated assault, resisting arrest, and related crimes for an incident in Delaware County, court records show. He is scheduled for a trial in May on those charges.

Anyone who has information on Borden’s whereabouts is asked to contact Philadelphia police at 215-686-8477 or call 911.