Handcuffed Suspect Arrested on Attempted Murder Charges Escapes Police Custody in Harlem: NYPD

A handcuffed man arrested on attempted murder charges attacked an officer guarding him and escaped police custody in Manhattan Tuesday night, according to the NYPD.

The man, identified as 23-year-old Tarek Arnold, got away around 7:30 p.m. at 134th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue in Harlem and remains on the lam, police said.

Police said Arnold was being taken to Manhattan central booking, with his hands cuffed behind his back, when he pushed the officer guarding to the ground and took off. Surveillance video shows him running down the street in a white T-shirt and pants as two law enforcement officers chase him.

"It's terrifying," neighborhood resident John Welch said. 

The officer authorities say Arnold attacked was not seriously injured.

An apartment building on 134th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard was locked down Tuesday while authorities searched for the suspect, leaving residents stranded outside or stuck inside as police dogs scoured the premises. They weren't able to find the man.

But some residents said they remain hopeful that he'll be found.

"I feel that they will catch him," Ethel Hart said. "I'm confident in that."

Arnold has two tattoos -- one that says "troll" and another that says "militant soldiers." The circumstances surrounding the charges against him weren't immediately clear.

A woman who said she let Arnold live in her home for nearly two months said she last saw him about two days ago. She said she first heard of his escape on TV.

"I'm shocked myself," said the woman, who did not want to be identified.

Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS.

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