CINCINNATI — A prisoner escaped Cincinnati police custody from the University of Cincinnati Medical Center Wednesday morning, according to Cincinnati police's district two.
The prisoner escaped UC Medical Center shortly after 8 a.m., police said.
The unidentified person who escaped the hospital was detained for car theft, Cincinnati police said. CPD said its officers left the suspect in the custody of the hospital's police and when they went to retain him in their custody when he was discharged from the hospital, he had already walked away.
Amanda Nageleisen, director of media relations at UC Health, said she couldn't discuss any specific patient information, but said that, in general, UC Health does not take custody of anyone when they are providing treatment. Suspects are in the custody of the agency that brought them there, Nageleisen said.
This marks the 13th person to have escaped custody in Hamilton County in the past two months.
Inmate Russell Baumgartner escaped from UC Medical Center on June 17. Two days later on June 19, Timothy Grier walked away from University Hospital. On July 3, James Johnson escaped custody while he was undergoing treatment.
River City Correctional Center has dealt with the majority of the escaped inmates in Hamilton County. The facility announced at its quarterly meeting the facility will be making changes to its security.
Part of those changes include that River City inmates who receive treatment at UC Medical Center will have to be under the hold of a River City staff member. Prior to this change, inmates were only held under the custody of hospital staff.
The River City board discussed revisiting its memorandum of understanding with Cincinnati police and the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office. There was also conversation about changing the way that River City notifies the public about escaped inmates.
RELATED
12 inmates escape custody in Hamilton County in less than 2 months
After multiple inmates escape, River City Correctional Center neighbor concerned about safety, communication
River City Correctional Center focusing on security changes after inmates escape
EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this story referred to the prisoner as an inmate. We have since changed the description to better portray that the suspect was not yet booked into a jail as an inmate, rather only in the custody of police.
Watch Live:
