ATLANTA — Officials with the Atlanta Police Department said they recaptured an accused felon Wednesday who escaped from Grady Memorial Hospital on Monday. Authorities said Jerry Griffith, 40, was arrested Friday when officers responded to a shoplifting call at a Chevron gas station on Pryor Street. Police said Griffith fought with officers and attempted to flee, but was captured after officers sprayed him with pepper spray.
Griffith was charged with aggravated assault on a police officer and was transported to Grady Memorial Hospital for treatment, police said. Officials said Griffith was shackled to the hospital bed while awaiting transfer to jail, but he managed to escape his restraints on Monday due to a security breach. He was recaptured at a home Wednesday morning. An initial investigation determined that due to a security breach, Griffith was left alone in the hospital room by a private contractor working on behalf of the Atlanta Police Department, police said.
The Department of Corrections is investigating how the security breach and escape happened, police said. Griffith is currently being held in the Fulton County Jail.
