An inmate of the San Benito County Jail attempted to escape
custody at Hazel Hawkins Hospital on Thursday.
An inmate of the San Benito County Jail attempted to escape custody at Hazel Hawkins Hospital on Thursday.
Hollister resident Glenn Lee Reid, 29, was transported to the hospital from the jail after complaining of stomach pain, which the nurse at the jail suspected to be appendicitis, according to San Benito County Sheriff’s Lt. Pat Turturici.
While at the hospital, Reid’s handcuffs and leg shackles were removed so he could be examined by a doctor and receive an MRI, Turturici said.
The doctor proclaimed him to be fit for custody, and as Reid was changing from the medical gown into his clothes he attempted to run out a sliding door at the back of the hospital where the ambulances park, he said.
“The correctional officer got ahold of him and physically restrained him until backup came,” Turturici said.
Additional sheriff’s deputies and Hollister Police Department officers responded to the call.
Reid was in jail on a warrant for failing to appear on an under the influence charge.
He later told correctional officers he tried to escape because he did not like being in jail, Turturici said.
“He was scared,” he said. “And he said he wanted to see his mom, who is ill.”
Inmates feigning illnesses for escape attempts are not unusual and something officers are always on the lookout for, Turturici said.
Felony charges of attempting to escape and resisting arrest were added to Reid’s original misdemeanor warrant and charge of being under the influence of a controlled substance.
He is in custody at the jail in lieu of $135,000 bail.
