Mental Health Patient Escapes Ambulance Near Crescent Bar

A 34-year-old man with a history of violence is back in custody after briefly escaping from an ambulance that was transporting him from Spokane to a mental healthcare facility in Wenatchee.

Deputies with the Grant and Douglas County Sheriff's Offices responded to the Trinidad area around 9 p.m. Wednesday after receiving word that the man had absconded from the ambulance.

"He was able to unbuckle the restraints that were holding him to the cot on the ambulance," says Grant County Sheriff's spokesperson, Kyle Foreman. "The ambulance pulled over and he apparently posed a threat to them although he did not harm either of the crew members. He then got out of the ambulance and walked away."

The man walked about a half-a-mile from the ambulance where Foreman says he broke into a residence near State Route 28 and Crescent Bar Road.

"There was nothing taken during the burglary, we just suspect that he was trying to hide himself and evade the deputies who were looking for him."

Deputies discovered broken windows at the residence and were able to flush the man out with the help of a K-9 unit at around 2 a.m.

He was taken into custody without incident and transported by Douglas County Sheriff's deputies to the mental healthcare facility he was originally being taken to by the ambulance crew.

Get our free mobile app