An accused bank robber being treated
at a Virginia hospital grabbed a security guard's gun and fled in his
gown and bare feet early Tuesday, authorities said. The hospital was
locked down while police hunted for the fugitive.
The prisoner, identified as Wossen Assaye, overpowered the guard at Inova Fairfax Hospital at about 3 a.m. ET, NBC Washington reported. A shot was fired during the struggle, but nobody was injured, authorities said.
In the hospital, staff members were
hiding in back rooms and hallways, NBC Washington reported. Police in
Fairfax described Assaye as armed and dangerous. They warned people in
the area to be alert to their surroundings.
Kent Knoff, who works at
a nearby Exxon station, told NBC News that roads were closed around the
hospital. "There are police cars everywhere," he said.
Assaye was being held by Alexandria
City on federal charges for armed bank robbery, and he had been taken to
the hospital after trying to hurt himself, police said.
He has an "extensive
criminal record" and a history of violence and poses a "serious risk to
the community," according to a 2012 Virginia parole board document. The
document said that he committed robberies and burglaries.
Public records show a
rap sheet dating to 1972 for a Wossen Assaye, including a
breaking-and-entering charge in 1998 and a purse-snatching conviction in
1994, for which he was given a recommended sentence of a year in jail.
NBC News' Jason Cumming, Alexander Smith and Christopher Nelson contributed to this report.
http://www.nbcnews.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment