Federal Marshals say they are unsure how a prisoner escaped a Virginia hospital March 31 and are reviewing their security procedures.
The escape brought questions about how the inmate got away from the two private guards that were assigned to him at a time when he was believed to be in leg shackles and handcuffs, according to the Miami Herald. The guards, brought in after the first 24 hours of the prisoner’s stay at Inova Fairfax Hospital, were from Allied Protection Services.
Campus Safety Magazine had previously reported that Wossen Assaye, 42, escaped the northern Virginia hospital at 3 a.m. by overpowering a private guard and taking her gun. Authorities say Assaye then used the guard as a shield and escaped through a stairwell.
The escape began a nine-hour manhunt that ended when a citizen who recognized Assaye alerted police in southeast Washington D.C. By that time, the hospital was on lockdown and Assay had hijacked two cars.
In March Assaye was accused of being the “Bicycle Bandit”, a man police say robbed a dozen banks in northern Virginia. He had been in the hospital for four days.
