A prisoner who was in the custody of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at John F. Kennedy Airport has escaped, the New York Daily News reported.
The incident happened on Tuesday night, at Gate B23 in Terminal 4, at about 8 p.m. ET. Agents had taken the detainee, Mohamadou Lamine Mbacke, through an X-ray screening, removed his handcuffs, and were ready to accompany him onto the plane when he fled. Agents were transferring him from a Michigan flight for deportation to Senegal.
The man has been characterized as a “violent deportee”; according to law enforcement sources, he had previously been arrested on a weapons charge.
Surveillance video shows the man made his getaway in a taxi, per law enforcement sources.
However, ICE agents waited more than an hour to inform local police of the man’s escape; Port Authority police were notified at around 9:15 p.m. ET. The escapee still remains at large.
