The decision by Baltimore police to leave a suicidal suspect facing serious criminal charges unattended at a local hospital broke with state guidelines, according to an article on the Baltimore Sun website.
After escaping, the suspect allegedly shot a teenage boy to death in June.
Maryland's guidelines call for at least one police officer to remain at all times with violent criminal detainees being treated at medical facilities. The detainees should be restrained, even when going to the bathroom, and the officer should maintain an unobstructed view of the patient.
"The hospital — and the criminals know it — is a weak point in the system where they can probably be more successful than at any other point at escape," Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler said.
Baltimore police and hospital officials acknowledge that Anthony Jerome Clark Jr.'s release from the University of Maryland Medical Center exposed communication failures.
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