Man escapes police custody in Kensington

Authorities are searching for a handcuffed man who escaped custody Monday morning as officers led him from a Kensington hospital to their police cruiser.

Alleem Borden, 29, who was arrested Sunday for allegedly stealing a car, outran the officers at around 6:30 a.m. as they were leaving Temple University Hospital’s Episcopal Campus, police said.

While cuffed with his hands behind his back, Borden ran through a gas station lot at Front Street and Lehigh Avenue, Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore told reporters. Police lost track of Borden when he turned down the 2700 block of N. Hancock Street, he added.

Multiple schools in the neighborhood were placed on lockdown during a search immediately following the escape, but authorities were not able to locate Borden, Vanore said. He was still at large when Metro went to press on Monday.

Vanore described Borden as a 5-foot 6-inch man weighing about 145 pounds with braids and a beard. He was wearing a blue-and-black plaid shirt over a black T-shirt, along with blue jeans and brown boots, at the time of the escape, he said. Borden’s last known address was on the 1300 block of N. Allison Street in the Carroll Park section of West Philadelphia, according to the PPD.

Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to call 911 or 215-686-8477.

Borden had not been out of prison long when he was arrested over the weekend in Fishtown. Court records indicate he was released from a jail in Delaware County on Feb. 9 after posting bail.

That pending case is related to a 2021 arrest in Upper Darby, in which he was charged with aggravated assault, resisting arrest and illegal possession of a firearm. A trial is scheduled for May, according to court documents.

Vanore said Borden was found inside a car at around 4:30 a.m. Sunday on the 1100 block of Frankford Avenue. The vehicle had been reported stolen late last week in the Germantown-based 14th Police District, he said.

The owner had left the car running as he delivered food, and Borden allegedly jumped in and drove away, according to Vanore.

Borden was charged early Monday with theft, receiving stolen property and other crimes. The Defender’s Association, which is representing him, declined to comment on the case.

Vanore said Borden was brought to Episcopal during processing after complaining of pain.

He is the second prisoner this year to elude custody while being taken to a medical center for treatment. In January, teenage murder suspect Shane Pryor spent four days on the run after he eluded Juvenile Justice Services Center staff outside the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.