A prisoner recently escaped from a Newark hospital by walking out of the building without being detected by guards or hospital staff.
The Newark police director revealed that the 46-year-old suspect remains at large after escaping from a room at University Hospital in Newark, NJ. The suspect had been taken to the hospital so that he could receive medical treatment for chest pains.
The suspect was first placed under arrest after police learned that he had an outstanding warrant for a number of criminal charges, including robbery, burglary, and resisting arrest.
After he was arrested, the suspect was held at the Newark police holding facility on Green Street. While at the holding facility, the suspect complained of chest pains. Police then took him to the nearby hospital.
The brazen escape was successful despite the fact that two police officers had been assigned to guard the suspect while he received treatment at the hospital. The officers did not discover the escape until they checked the suspect’s room and found it empty.
The hospital was then placed on lockdown for approximately two hours while officers searched the facility. Law enforcement has not indicated if any hospital workers came into contact with the suspect while he escaped.
Police are currently working “around the clock” to find the suspect. However, Newark police yet to locate him despite receiving a number of tips about his possible whereabouts.
If the suspect is eventually located and captured, he will face severe penalties for the original criminal charges. As set forth by N.J.S.A. 2C:15-1, robbery is ordinarily classified as a second degree felony. A conviction on second degree robbery charges may lead to a sentence of 5-10 years in NJ State Prison.
In the meantime, the Newark Police Department is investigating the incident to determine how the mistake at the hospital might have occurred.
For more information about this case, read the NJ.com article entitled “Escaped Prisoner Ducked Newark Cops, Walked Out of Hospital Undetected, Director Says.”