KEY WEST, Fla. – A Louisiana man faced multiple charges after a destructive hit-and-run crash in Key West culminated in a brief, but daring escape from custody at the emergency room, according to police.
According to an arrest report from the Key West Police Department, at around 5:30 Monday morning, officers responded to the intersection of U.S. 1 and Roosevelt Boulevard — known as “the Triangle” — after receiving reports of a crash.
Officers arrived to find a wrecked Toyota Corolla with a Louisiana tag and the driver walking away from the scene, police said.
According to the report, that driver, 27-year-old Bailey Richard of Carencro, Louisiana, left a wake of destruction, apparently having driven straight through the three-way intersection and knocking down and destroying “several” traffic lights in the process, coming to a stop on the sidewalk.
Richard, who appeared to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, told officers that he was “going down there” and pointed to the Marriott Beachside Hotel and admitted to being involved in the crash, the report states.
His next stop would be the hospital, but not before officers found crushed amphetamine pills and drug paraphernalia, according to the report.
Police said they also found a number of fake Louisiana identification cards in Richard’s glove box.
When asked about the IDs, Richard told officers, “I’m trying to do business,” the report states.
Richard was taken to Lower Keys Medical Center twice, according to the report: First for evaluation, then a second time after being refused intake in jail due to an elevated heart rate and blood pressure.
While being treated for the second time, an emergency room nurse asked an officer if he could take off Richard’s handcuffs in order to get a better reading of his vitals, police said.
Officer Michal Brablc wrote that he agreed to do so, because Richard was “not combative.”
But a few minutes later, he said Richard made a run for it.
Brablc wrote that Richard ran towards a locked glass door, bolted through the glass and made it into the hospital’s parking lot before officers tackled and cuffed him again.
Police said Richard suffered “several lacerations as he ran through the broken glass.”
Richard faces four felony charges and two misdemeanors, including hit-and-run, possessing five or more fake identification cards, attempted escape from custody, and possessing drugs and drug paraphernalia.
He was set to be arraigned in Monroe County court on April 13.