At least seven individuals have managed to escape from police custody while in hospitals since August. Some of these individuals include a suspected murderer and an accused carjacker, and they are still at large. Fox News Digital contacted the Department of Justice to determine whether these numbers were unusually high. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics in 2019, more than 2,000 prisoners escaped from federal and state prisons, but it is unclear how many of these escapes occurred in hospitals.
One recent capture involved Carlton Bradford Gillis, who was found in Georgia five days after escaping from police custody in an Albany hospital. The Dougherty County Police Department stated on Facebook that Gillis “overpowered a guard and escaped on foot” when he was transported to the hospital on October 7. Gillis had pending charges against him in several Georgia counties. At the time of his escape, he was jailed for various offenses, including burglary, criminal damage to property, obstruction of a law enforcement officer, and violation of probation. Since his escape, he has been charged with additional crimes such as kidnapping, forcible robbery, fleeing from a police officer, reckless driving, and driving with a suspended license. Authorities have also charged Gillis’ mother and stepfather with assisting his escape.
In mid-September, two prisoners from different parts of the country escaped from hospitals and were recaptured within 24 hours. One man escaped from a Massachusetts hospital while undergoing a medical procedure. Massachusetts police later apprehended him. Another prisoner, Tommy Wayne Boyd, escaped from a hospital in St. Louis. Boyd was serving a 30-year sentence for statutory sodomy. Unlike Gillis, Boyd simply walked out of the hospital in the early morning hours. However, he was recaptured less than 24 hours later.
A New Yorker named Yenchun Chen pulled off a daring escape when he rappelled out of a fifth-floor hospital room using linens made into a rope. Chen had been hospitalized after being taken into custody on drug charges. However, police re-arrested him after more than a month on the run.
Naseem Roulack, also known as “Lil Nas,” escaped from a Virginia hospital in the early morning hours of August 12 and has not been captured yet. Roulack was serving a 13-year sentence for aggravated malicious wounding, grand larceny, and hit-and-run. He has been suspected of committing additional crimes since his escape.
Two separate homicide suspects also managed to escape from police custody while in the hospital recently, and one of them remains at large. Christopher Haynes escaped from The George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C. Haynes had been arrested in connection with an August homicide and was taken to the hospital after complaining of ankle pain. He assaulted an officer while he was being handcuffed to his hospital bed and managed to run away.
Lastly, Christopher Lee Pray, a homicide suspect, was re-arrested a few days after his escape from Oregon State Hospital on August 30. Pray had been admitted to the hospital after getting into an altercation with another patient. While returning to the hospital, Pray gained control of the van and drove away but was eventually apprehended after getting stuck in the mud.
These incidents highlight the challenges law enforcement faces when guarding prisoners in hospitals.
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