27-year-old Jose Rodriguez escaped as a team of law enforcement officials were attempting to take him into custody in the parking lot of a Fort Lee motel, authorities said.
Fort Lee schools were also locked down as police searched the area, but students were sent home about a half-hour later.
Rodriguez was followed from the Bronx by NYPD officers assisted by U.S. Marshals.
The officials pulled the suspect over in the parking lot of the Holiday Inn on Route 4 in Fort Lee, where they attempted to take him into custody.
As they were arresting the Rodriguez, he broke away, jumped into a Marshals' vehicle and sped off.
Investigators later found abandoned Ford Fusion in Ridgefield, near the intersection of Prospect and Linden avenues, and police went door to door for the suspect.
Rodriguez is described as a 5'8" dark-skinned Hispanic man wearing grey sweatpants and a light blue t-shirt.
Ridgefield schools and Palisades Park High School also went into lockdown just after 2:30 p.m. The students remained at the schools for up to two hours before all of the lockdowns were lifted.
It was not immediately known why Rodriguez was wanted.
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