By Scottie Brown

The Selma Times-Journal

An incarcerated patient at Vaughan Regional Medical Center is back behind bars after escaping from Selma Police Department custody Friday, July 11 while he was receiving medical treatment.

Antwan Rowe, 20, 1538 Martin Luther King St., Selma, was facing third-degree charges of theft and criminal trespassing when he was transferred to Vaughan Regional Medical Center after becoming sick.

Rowe was receiving medical treatment for his sickness when he left the hospital between 5 and 6 p.m. that night, said Sgt. Evelyn Ghant with SPD.

“He was getting medical treatment at the hospital, and somehow he just left the hospital,” Ghant said.

After escaping from the hospital, Ghant said Rowe turned himself in to the Selma Police Department five days later on Wednesday.

“The detectives had been searching for him, trying to give him an opportunity to turn himself in,” Ghant said. “He came to the police department [Wednesday] and turned himself in.”

Rowe will now face a felony charge of escape on top of his previous misdemeanors, Ghant said.

“He was still under the custody of the Selma Police Department, and he knew that,” Ghant said. “Once he left without knowledge of the police officer, it means he is considered an escapee. He left. It’s just like if he were to be in jail and broke out of jail.”

Ghant said the police department is currently investigating how Rowe was able to escape from the hospital.