A prisoner at a Virginia hospital managed to escape from his room early Tuesday after grabbing a security guard’s gun and running off in a hospital gown, authorities said.
He then took off in a stolen vehicle, abandoned it, and stole another, Fairfax County police said.
There were two private guards with the prisoner, Wossen Assaye, in his room at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Virginia, police said.
Asked on Twitter why a prisoner would be watched over by a private firm rather than the police, Fairfax County police responded, “This will be looked into. Focus right now is protecting public & apprehending suspect.”
After overpowering a guard and taking his gun, Assaye was seen chasing people inside the hospital, a law enforcement official said.
The hospital was put on lockdown. Roads around it were later reopened, but police remained in the area.
Assaye has a girlfriend and family in the area, and authorities said they were looking into whether he was with them.
Police reported the details of a car Assaye was believed to have stolen. They found that car, then reported the second vehicle he allegedly stole: a 2008 dark gray Hyundai Elantra with Virginia plate XTU-5024.
Assaye was being held on federal charges of armed bank robbery. He was taken to the hospital for treatment after attempting to harm himself, police said. A private security company was hired to guard him.
Assaye was arrested last week and charged with multiple robberies in the Northern Virginia area.
He was known as the “bicycle bandit” for how he allegedly made his escape after robberies.