A furloughed prisoner escaped custody Dec. 9 while receiving medical treatment at Erie, Pa.-based UPMC Hamot, according to local reports. Now, police are investigating whether he stole a hospital employee's car to skip town.
Alex Rabold, a 31-year-old inmate at Mercer County (Pa.) Prison, was granted furlough Dec. 8 to receive care at the hospital, the Erie Times-News and Erie News Now reported Dec. 11. The order allowed him to visit the hospital without the supervision of prison or hospital security, but required him to return to custody immediately after his treatment was complete.
"Typically with a furloughed inmate, the hospital calls the department of corrections once treatment is over and they pick up the inmate," Karen Beardsley, a spokesperson for UPMC Hamot, told the Times-News.
Instead, Mr. Rabold walked away from the hospital. On the afternoon of Dec. 11, he had still not been located, according to the newspaper and a Facebook post from nearby Gannon University.
Ms. Beardsley told the Erie Times-News that Mr. Rabold did not technically escape, because he was on furlough and not under police custody when he left; however, Mercer County detectives filed a felony count of escape against Mr. Rabold Dec. 11, after learning of his exit the morning of Dec. 9.
On the evening of Dec. 9, a UPMC Hamot employee — working on the same floor where Mr. Rabold had been treated — informed police that their car keys had been stolen. The Nissan Altima was then discovered to be missing, and was located, unoccupied, a few hours later in Mercer County city, the Erie Times-News reported.
Police are investigating whether Mr. Rabold took the vehicle, according to the newspapers. He had recently been charged with receiving stolen property while driving a stolen car, The Herald reported Nov. 7.
"UPMC does not assume custody of an adult suspect or inmate if a law enforcement entity relieves itself of guarding the individual or otherwise determines the individual is not in need of law enforcement escort or restraint," hospital officials said in a Dec. 11 statement.