Rikers escapee caught after hurting self in fence climb

A RIKERS ISLAND inmate was so desperate to break free he climbed a 12-foot fence topped with razor wire, injuring himself in the process.

Inmate Naquan Hill, 24, was in a recreation yard at the Anna M. Kross Center on Wednesday when he made his bold attempt at freedom at 7:30 p.m. His mad dash left him hospitalized with cuts, but he’s expected to survive.

He got past at least four correction officers, jail sources said. Five of the six other detainees in the yard at the time distracted the jailers, the sources said.

The small grassy area was previously used for mentally ill inmates, jail insiders said.

The yard does not include perimeter sensors to pick up vibrations, as do almost all the other yards on the island, a former jail supervisor said.

After an eight-hour search, Hill was apprehended by two correction officers, Michael Bruij and Shaun Toner,driving by the closed James A. Thomas Center at 2:45 a.m. The shuttered jail is about 100 feet from where he escaped.The officers tackled him to the ground. As backup arrived to take Hill into custody, he told the two officers, “You got lucky,” which drew laughs. Hill did a four-year stint in state prison on a burglary conviction and was released in March. When he tried to escape the island on Wednesday, he was locked up on a Queens burglary charge. He’s been there since Dec. 12, ordered held without bail. On Thursday, his family defended him.

“He’s been locked up for so long,” said a woman outside his home in Far Rockaway, Queens. “He’s tired of being in there.”

The Bronx district attorney’s office plans to hit him with additional charges.

The union representing city jail officers says the escape proves that closing facilities on scandalscarred Rikers is a bad idea.

“This incident underscores yet another reason why the city’s jails belong on an island, not in our communities,” tweeted Elias Husamudeen, president of the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association.