Deputies recapture psychiatric patient after violent escape

Signage at john george psychiatric pavilion, san leandro, california (Photo By Mercurywoodrose – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0)

SAN LEANDRO, Calif. — Officials say they have recaptured a psychiatric patient who escaped from a hospital then led police on a wild chase before he was hit by a car.

Alameda County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ray Kelly tells the East Bay Times the unidentified man escaped Thursday night from a San Leandro psychiatric facility.

He jumped behind the wheel of a parked car, striking a teen in the passenger seat, then crashed the car into a garbage truck.

Kelly says he then tried to take car keys from another man, biting and injuring him. When he couldn’t start that car, he fled again, running into freeway traffic.

He was struck by a vehicle, then hid in some shrubs, where deputies found him.

The man was taken to jail after being treated for broken bones.