Escape attempt prompts review

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The man was serving a 20-year sentence.

COLUMBUS (AP) — An inmate coming out of an MRI machine stabbed an officer with a sharpened toothbrush, trying to carry out a plan to escape from a hospital in May, according to a prison review obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.

Marrion Smith, 30, ran through the hallways at Ohio State University Medical Center and, once outside, refused orders by state corrections officers to stop, the prison records show. One of the officers shot at Smith — the bullet grazed his head — and Smith then fought with another officer, who at one point handed his gun to a hospital technician to keep the inmate from getting it.

The May 10 altercation has not led to any changes in how inmates are transported to hospitals for medical procedures, but a review committee is studying the issue, said Andrea Dean, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

A separate inquiry concluded that the shooting was justified and commended the officers for their actions, records show. "Officers are not trained to shoot warning shots, they are trained to shoot fleeing felons," Dean said.

The records do not say why Smith was being taken to a hospital, and Dean declined to comment, citing patient privacy law. An MRI is a procedure that uses magnetic fields to create images of internal organs.

Smith, who began serving a 20-year sentence in November for kidnapping, aggravated burglary and other charges out of Summit County, hid the toothbrush in his rectum before leaving the Mansfield Correctional Institution for a 60-mile trip to the hospital in Columbus, records show.

Officers conducted a strip search of Smith but were not required to do a body cavity search, Dean said.

The attempt

At the hospital, Gary Myers, a 16-year veteran of the corrections department, removed Smith's handcuffs and other restraints for the MRI. Another officer who made the trip, Leo Hess, remained outside the room to avoid possible damage to his pacemaker, records show.

Smith stabbed Myers in the left shoulder as the officer was trying to reapply the restraints after the procedure.

Hospital staff inside the room hit a panic button, and Myers tackled the inmate as he tried to run away. After a brief struggle, Smith gave up and complied with orders to lie down but again pulled away, this time making it to the exit.

Hess chased the inmate down a hallway and followed him outside, where he scuffled with officers but eventually was subdued. None of the officers was seriously injured.

An investigation led by Ohio State University police found crack cocaine in Smith's rectum, prison records show. Dean said she did not know where the drugs came from, and the records don't provide additional details.

Ohio State Assistant Chief Rick Amweg said he did not have information about subsequent charges filed against Smith, who is being held at a state correctional facility in Orient, southwest of Columbus.

Peter Wray, a spokesman for the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association, which represents prison guards, agreed that medical transportation policies should be reviewed. One idea under discussion is to restrain inmates using sturdy, non-metallic nylon straps, which won't interfere with MRI machines or other diagnostic equipment, he said.

Friday, August 18, 2006