NYPD: Shooting Suspect Mistakenly Released From Custody In Brooklyn
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police are looking for a shooting suspect after they said he was accidentally released from custody in Brooklyn.
Layquan Johnson, 22, was "released in error" after he provided false information to Department of Correction staff at Brooklyn Supreme Court around 10:15 p.m. Tuesday, police said.
The captain involved in the incident has been suspended, sources tell CBS2.
A Correction Department spokesman released a statement saying, "Any erroneous release is unacceptable and this incident is under investigation."
Johnson was in custody for a non-fatal shooting that occurred on Dec. 9, 2015.
Police consider him an escaped prisoner.
He is described as a black male, 6'3" tall, and 220 pounds. He was wearing a grey sweatshirt, dark-colored pants, and light-colored sneakers.
Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS, visit the Crime Stoppers website, or text tips to 274637 (CRIMES) and enter TIP577.
Last year, six prisoners escaped custody in New York City between June and December.
On June 23, Tareek Arnold escaped from detectives in the 32nd Precinct in Harlem. Surveillance video showed him running down the street in handcuffs while detectives chased after him.
Arthur Collins escaped from the 25th Precinct, also in East Harlem, on July 24 after he got out of his holding cell when he was being booked on a burglary charge.
On Aug, 16, Austin Stevenson, 25, was taken into custody in East Harlem on suspicion of criminal trespass. As he was led to the 23rd Precinct station house, police said Stevenson pushed his escorting officer and took off.
On Aug. 30, Tiffany Neumann, 23, fled from a lower Manhattan hospital after slipping out of her handcuffs. Police called the incident embarrassing and said the officer who was supposed to be guarding Neumann had been suspended.
Gerald Brooks, 39, was being taken to the 73rd Precinct station house on Oct. 20 when he escaped police custody in East New York, Brooklyn. His hands were cuffed behind his back when he pushed a police officer to the ground and ran off, police said.
On Dec. 17, a shoplifting suspect feigned an illness while being transported to the First Precinct by police and then bolted from the backseat of the police cruiser when officers stopped to check on him. He ran into a subway station, halting service on the 1, 2 and 3 lines. He was recaptured a few hours later at a group home in Brooklyn.
