Mercer inmate who walked away from UPMC Hamot charged with stealing employee's keys, car

A Mercer County Prison inmate who walked away from treatment at UPMC Hamot on Saturday fled Erie in a car he stole from a hospital employee, city police charge in a criminal complaint filed on Thursday.

Police had suspected that 31-year-old Alex Rabold stole a 2014 Nissan Altima that was reported missing on Saturday night. A hospital employee who worked on the same floor where Rabold was being treated on Saturday morning initially reported her car keys missing from a break room on Saturday night before it was determined the vehicle was gone, Erie Police Chief Dan Spizarny said.

A few hours after the vehicle was reported missing, Erie police received a call from police in Sharon, Mercer County, reporting that they found the stolen vehicle unoccupied in their city, according to Spizarny.

Erie police detectives investigating the stolen vehicle report said Wednesday that they were planning to search the Nissan while it remained in Sharon and were reviewing surveillance video as part of their probe.

Investigators said Thursday that Rabold was linked to the theft through surveillance video. A hospital gown was also found in the car when it was recovered, detectives reported.

Police charged Rabold on Thursday with third-degree felony counts of theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property and with a summary count of driving under suspension. He had not been arraigned on the charges as of Thursday afternoon.

Rabold remains in the Mercer County Prison on charges including a felony count of escape a detective in the Mercer County District Attorney's Office filed against him on Monday for leaving UPMC Hamot on Saturday.

More: Mercer County prisoner charged with escape after exiting UPMC Hamot during treatment

A flight from Erie

Rabold was at UPMC Hamot on Saturday morning when police were alerted that Rabold had left the facility, according to Spizarny. Officials at Gannon University also learned of the walk-away and issued a campus-wide alert.

Rabold was furloughed from the Mercer County Prison to travel to Erie for medical treatment under a court order Mercer County's president judge issued on Dec. 8, according to police and court records. He was not guarded by prison officials or UPMC Hamot security while at the hospital.

UPMC spokeswoman Karen Beardsley told the Erie Times-News earlier this week that prison officials dropped Rabold off at Hamot and left. Guards don't stay with furloughed inmates and extra hospital security is not used during their treatment, and typically the hospital calls the department of corrections once treatment is completed and the inmate is picked up, she said.

Joe Reichard, a deputy warden at the Mercer County Prison, said each requested furlough from the prison is approved or denied based on its own merit, following certain criteria that includes an inmate being considered nonviolent and having no history of mental health issues. Many more furlough requests are denied than approved, he said.

Following Rabold's disappearance from Hamot, a bench warrant was issued for him on Monday for absconding supervision, according to Mercer County court records.

Rabold resurfaced in Mercer County the day the bench warrant was issued.

Rabold turned himself in to the Mercer County Prison on Monday, Warden Mac McDuffie said. He was arraigned Tuesday afternoon in Mercer County on the escape charge and was returned to the prison on $100,000 bond, according to court records.

Earlier incident at other hospital

Days before Rabold fled from Hamot, he had issues at another UPMC facility, according to authorities.

Beardsley said Rabold was furloughed last week from the Mercer County Prison to UPMC Horizon-Shenango Valley in Farrell, Mercer County, and was in the emergency room when he left. The hospital reported his absence, she said.

That incident happened on Dec. 7, according to a court document related to charges that the Farrell Police Department filed against Rabold on Dec. 8. Farrell police charged Rabold with misdemeanor counts of evading arrest and disorderly conduct, according to court records. Those charges related to the incident at UPMC Horizon, Reichard said.

The charges were withdrawn on Tuesday, according to court records.

Reichard said Thursday that, in the incident at UPMC Horizon, Rabold never left the hospital but would not stay in his room and went to the hospital's cafeteria. Hospital officials contacted the prison and said they were worried because they could not manage Rabold, and he was returned to the prison until the time when Rabold needed to see a specialist at UPMC Hamot, according to the deputy warden.

Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNhahn.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Mercer inmate who fled Hamot charged with stealing employee's car