Teen who escaped police custody after arrest for gun possession found later still wearing hand cuffs

DETROIT (FOX 2) - A Muskegon-native teen who escaped police custody Tuesday morning was later found in west Detroit.

Chas Taylor, a 16-year-old had been arrested and placed in police custody after officers found him with a gun. Describing Taylor as a troubled teen, officers said he put up a fight during the initial arrest.

"The suspect was very non-compliant, argumentative. He had a pistol in his waistband. They had to struggle with him to get him into custody," said Commander Nick Kyriacou, of the 10th precinct.

That was only the beginning of the struggle however. 

Taylor reportedly slipped his handcuffs to the front and escaped after getting out of the squad car. He was later spotted at an abandoned apartment building.

"Some officers saw him in the rear of the building and then a citizen in one of the businesses observed him going into a basement window at the building behind us," said Kyriacou.

Once officers located the building, they had to navigate the blighted structure that was the product of neglect and water damage. Considered treacherous for both the suspect and the first responders, officers were careful when looking through the property.

"There's so many places in there to hide that even with cameras and everything else, it's really hard to find anything," said Deputy Fire Chief Gene Biondo. "there's a lot of debris in there."

The scavenger hunt for the teen continued into the afternoon after officers had no luck finding Taylor at the abandoned apartment. They would eventually find the 16-year-old at another location after a citizen called 911, reported seeing a suspicious person still wearing hand cuffs.

"He's a very highly at-risk youth. He's already turned to carrying a gun, that's he going to solve issues with violence and now he's escaped," said Commander Darin Szilagy. "So it is a big deal to us."

While Kyriacou said they want to get Taylor help, he's also going to be following up with how he managed to escape.

"I have to investigate that and get all the details of how this managed to occur this morning to check on whatever policies and procedures that may have been violated to allow this to happen," said Kyriacou.