A prisoner who escaped Tuesday from Lancaster General Hospital when he reportedly was left unattended by a Lancaster County Prison corrections officer is back in custody.

Ovett Ramos, 20, who fled from the fourth floor of the hospital in leg shackles, wearing only a hospital gown and booties, was picked up by police shortly before noon Wednesday.

They located Ramos after an anonymous caller reported seeing a man matching his description walking on North Plum Street, near East Orange Street, according to a release issued by Lancaster city police spokesman Sgt. Todd Umstead.

Officers quickly converged on the area and spotted Ramos walking in the area of North Lime and East Chestnut streets about 11:45 a.m.

As officers approached, Ramos went into an alley and out of view of police, Umstead wrote.

Police established a perimeter and began searching the area. About 10 minutes later, Ramos emerged in the 200 block of North Duke Street and was arrested without incident, according to Umstead.

Ramos was dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt and was no longer wearing leg shackles when arrested. He was not armed, according to Umstead.

Investigators are trying to determine where Ramos was and who he was with in the 24 hours he evaded police, Umstead said.

"He was obviously somewhere where he was able to obtain other clothes and able to remove the leg irons," Umstead said.

"We'll have additional information forthcoming, but right now we're just trying to piece everything together."

Ramos, whose last known address was in the 500 block of High Street in Lancaster, reportedly has family and friends in the Lancaster area.

Umstead would not comment on whether police had any leads regarding who may have assisted the fugitive.

"Clearly, anyone who helped him will be charged," he said.

Umstead said a report of a teenage boy who knocked on a woman's door in the 300 block of East Frederick Street on Tuesday afternoon asking for bolt cutters appears to be unrelated to Ramos' escape.

The teen, whom the woman said she knew by the name "Macho," told her he needed the equipment because his bicycle had been chained.

City police initially arrested Ramos on Sunday on a outstanding bench warrant for failing to appear in court on a charge of receiving stolen property in connection with a vehicle allegedly taken in July 2008.

In addition, Ramos was charged Wednesday with escape, a third-degree felony. He was arraigned Wednesday night and returned to Lancaster County Prison.

Police are planning to file additional charges against Ramos relating to several past incidents involving stolen vehicles, according to Umstead's release.

Police unleashed a massive manhunt Tuesday after Ramos' escape. He was at the hospital to have an MRI scan in connection with an unspecified medical condition.

Although the search was scaled back later in the day Tuesday, Umstead said police continued to "check around" with Ramos' relatives and friends throughout the night.

He said he did not know if the person who called police Wednesday knew Ramos or recognized him from media reports.

"Either way, it had a positive result, and that's the important thing," Umstead said. "This guy was back in custody in about 24 hours.

"Obviously we would have liked to have him in custody sooner … but we're pleased that things worked out the way they did."

At no point was Ramos a danger to the public, Umstead said.

E-mail: jtodd@lnpnews.com