Bizarre moment New Mexico scam artist tries to escape from cops by climbing ... trends now

A serial conman tried to use his skills on arresting officers in New Mexico by pretending he had a heart attack and scuttling off though a bathroom ceiling.

Steven Byers, 61, was arrested on multiple outstanding warrants by Bernalillo County sheriffs on February 9, eleven months after absconding from parole.

Police bodycam video shows him persuading police to remove his cuffs to go to the bathroom, moments before medics warned them that someone was crawling through the ceiling above their heads.

Officers burst into the bathroom to see a ceiling panel missing and set off in pursuit, eventually finding him hiding under a pile of insulation material in a wall cavity.

'Unfortunately, we don't treat everybody like they're an extreme risk,' a sheriff's spokesman said.

'We trusted that he was going to comply, and he was truly there, at the hospital, with a medical condition and that he wasn't going to try to escape.'

Byers who has a criminal record dating back 40 years made his way back to his home state after being freed on parole in Nevada in 2017.

More than a dozen victims had reported him for home improvement fraud after he was paid for work on their homes that he failed to complete.

At the time of his arrest he was also wanted for driving a stolen vehicle and operating as a contractor without a license.

Police took him to Lovelace Hospital after he complained of 'stomach issues' and they uncuffed him so he could use the bathroom.

'No funny business, don't take off, don't do anything stupid,' Deputy Lorenzo Herrera warned him.

Forty-five minutes later he warned officers his condition was deteriorating and asked if he could go again, moaning: 'I think I'm having a heart attack, dude.'

As the minutes ticked by, one puzzled nurse reported hearing 'scratching' in the ceiling and officers burst into bathroom to find an overturned trash can under a missing ceiling panel.