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A hand-cuffed man wanted for two theft warrants escaped transport from Harborview Medical Center in Seattle to King County Jail this afternoon.

The Seattle Police Department has been assisting the King County Sheriff’s Office  in  a search for the 31-year-old Sea-Tac man since he ran from Harborview at about 1:30 p.m. He’s described as Samoan, 5-foot-8, and about 170 pounds.

The man was initially caught this morning while trespassing in someone’s yard in an unincorporated area south of Seattle, according to King County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Charlie Akers. He was taken to Harborview because he told deputies that he had recently swallowed a balloon of black tar heroin.

After four hours at Harborview, it turned out the suspect had lied about the heroin. As a deputy preparing to take the man to jail was putting something in the trunk of his patrol car, the suspect ran off toward a parking garage near the hospital, Akers said. Deputies and assisting officers have not been able to spot him since.

Police ask anyone who sees a man fitting his description to call 911.