A “violent” man slated for deportation escaped from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who detained him and fled New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport in a cab, officials say.

The Port Authority Police said the incident took place Tuesday night around 8:30 p.m. at Gate B23 in Terminal 4 while ICE agents were in the process of transferring him to another flight.

The man, who officials say is a “violent deportee,” had a previous arrest stemming from a weapons charge, the New York Daily News reported.

Law enforcement sources said that the ICE agents took the suspect through X-ray screening, removed his handcuffs, and were about to escort him onto the flight when he sprinted away.

Port Authority Police Officers did not hear of the man’s escape until 9:15 p.m., a police spokesman for the agency said.

Officials say they caught the man on surveillance video climbing into a taxi. They claimed that the man was no longer a threat to others at the airport when he was about to board the plane.

ICE officials did not respond to requests for comment.