Authorities were not guarding man who escaped hospital
Joseph G. Martinez
Last Update: 05/10/2004 12:47:42 PM
By: Associated Press
(Santa Fe-AP) – State police weren’t guarding a 32-year-old man who fled from a Santa Fe hospital after getting injured trying to run from authorities in a stolen sheriff’s deputy’s car.
The search continued Monday for Joseph G. Martinez.
State police took him into custody Friday night after a melee with officers and a vehicle chase in La Cienega.
But St. Vincent Hospital spokesman Don Butterfield says authorities weren’t guarding him when he fled Saturday, and it’s the responsibility of law enforcement—not the hospital—to secure hospitalized prisoners.
A state Department of Public Safety spokesman, Peter Olson, says an officer should’ve been at the hospital. He says the agency— which includes state police—is investigating what went wrong.