The manhunt for Jhonny Soto swirled through a block on Fourth Avenue in Sunset Park for hours on Wednesday afternoon.
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An entire neighborhood was on the lookout as cops searched for the fugitive they say somehow escaped from a moving FBI car as agents took him to the federal detention center a few blocks away.
Just after 4 p.m., Stephanie Tatsis spotted Soto, with his hands still shackled, in her mother-in-law's back yard. She chased him off with a meat cleaver and called 911.
"He definitely looked like he was up to no good," Tatsis said.
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Soon, teams of tactical cops, with K9s, were in and out, up and down the block, even in Terry Pierson's apartment.
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"I just noticed an odd lump that didn't fit the shape of what it was over," Pierson said. "He's been sitting behind me for three hours watching the TV news."
It turns out Soto had been there the whole time and was hiding under a sheet right over his shoulder.
"So I grabbed my flashlight and moved the sheet and there's this face looking back at me," he said. "Went running out the back door to the three policemen in my back yard hollering."
That is when the officers took off and tacked Soto out front.
According to a complaint, Soto is accused of possessing an illegal firearm that had the manufacturer's serial number removed and altered.
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Police say the semi-automatic pistol was shipped and transported in interstate and foreign commerce.
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