A slippery drug suspect pulled a Houdini act — escaping cops while handcuffed, police sources said.
Career criminal Lawrence Mason, 52, of Queens, was being collared for drugs near West 116th Street and Lenox Avenue at around 1:05 p.m. Saturday when he made the getaway with his hands still bound, the sources added.
Mason’s hands were secured behind his back when he dashed into the subway system, the sources said.
Although it’s unclear exactly how he escaped custody on the sidewalk, the sources said suspects often let their knees buckle to become dead weight so they can break cops’ grip on them and scramble away.
That’s one of the tricks Vincens Vuktilaj, 18, used last month when he escaped custody after an arrest for snatching chains from elderly women uptown, police sources said.
Vuktilaj led cops on a wild, barefoot chase through subway tunnels in Harlem until cops tackled him five hours later.
Mason likely ran through the tunnels along the tracks for the southbound 2 or 3 train, cops said.
He is 5-foot-6, about 140 pounds, with long, kinky, black hair. He was wearing a black baseball cap, tan work boots, a black t-shirt and dark blue jeans.
Mason has been jailed at least 14 times, mostly for drugs, sources said.