Prisoner to guards: ‘Which way is out?’

Forget the knotted bed sheets or tunnel. A New York prisoner found a much easier way to bust out of jail: ask guards for the exit.

The inmate, who was wearing a suit and tie for a court appearance on charges of multiple store robberies, simply wandered out an open door and into a courtroom Wednesday, the New York Post reported.

There, a court officer mistook jailbird Ronald Tackman for a lawyer, asking: “Counselor, what are you doing here?” the Daily News reported.

Tackman didn’t miss a beat, the Post said, asking: “Which way is out?”

The hapless guard then showed the escapee the way to the lobby.

Next the dapper jailbird went to his 81-year-old mother’s Manhattan home to change clothes, and left, she said.

“He came home. He was all dressed up — I figured he was discharged from prison. He changed his clothes and that was it,” she said on NY1 television.

Court officers’ embarrassment only increased when it was revealed that Tackman, who turned 56 Thursday, was a known master of disguise, the tabloids said. “The guy is a celebrity as far as the penal system,” the Daily News quoted a court source as saying.

Past exploits include wearing a hat, sunglasses or a plastic nose, and using ingenious methods of making fake firearms.

In 1985, while being transported to serve out a robbery sentence, he took a guard hostage with a fake gun carved out of soap, the Post reported.

He also fooled victims with pretend guns made from a cigarette lighter and even a comb, the News said.

However, Tackman’s lawyer Joseph Heinzmann said the fugitive was no real danger and probably fled in panic because he potentially faced a life sentence for the robberies.

“He never raised his fists at a police officer. He’s not accused in this case of having a gun, firing a gun, or using any violence at all. And his escape was aided by wit, not by force or by weapons,” Heinzmann said on NY1.

Heinzmann said his client, who escaped on the eve of his birthday, was not in good health.

AFP