NYPD manhunt shuts down west side trains

A police manhunt for an accused teen chain snatcher shut down train service on the West Side Monday morning.

Vincens Vuktilaj, 18, was on the loose for about five hours after he escaped custody before being arrested again in the afternoon, police said.

He was in cuffs being led out of his Saint Nicholas Avenue apartment in Harlem at 10:15 a.m. when he pushed past a detective and disappeared into a nearby 145th Street station without any shoes, police said.

Vuktilaj was arrested on Thursday for allegedly stealing chains from two women in late April.

He was out on bail over the weekend, when he was arrested for the second time on additional grand larceny allegations, the NYPD said. Those charges are still pending. Yesterday, Vuktilaj was charged with escape and assault.

Vuktilaj was picked up at 3:30 p.m. as he exited a subway station at West 135th Street and Saint Nicholas Avenue.

The search, which included K-9 units, shut down the A, C, B and D lines from around 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., an MTA spokeswoman said. The search also caused passengers in an A train to get stuck between stations, the spokeswoman said.