Crime of escaping criminal (5)
I believe the answer is:
fence
'criminal' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'crime of escaping' is the wordplay.
'crime' becomes 'offence' (offence is a kind of crime).
'escaping' suggests deleting specific letters.
'offence' with 'of' removed is 'FENCE'.
(Other definitions for fence that I've seen before include "Thief's dealer" , "who deals in hot stuff" , "Shield" , "may be 21 down [CLEARED]" , "Railing" .)