A homicide suspect who escaped from a medical center in California over the weekend was located near a residential neighborhood on Monday and taken into custody, according to authorities.
Eric Abril, 35, escaped from Sutter Roseville Medical Center early on July 9, and was spotted by a homeowner walking his dog a day after his escape, Placer County Sheriff Wayne Woo said at a news conference on July 10.
“The dog started barking. He saw somebody moving in that greenbelt area and, in fact, it was Abril. Law enforcement in the area descended quickly and Abril was safely taken into custody,” Mr. Woo said.
Mr. Abril was wearing only jail-issued boxer shorts and a belly chain that he had on when he escaped custody from the medical center, the sheriff said. Authorities also released a photo of the fugitive handcuffed and sitting on the ground in boxer shorts.
“When he was taken into custody, he was clothed in only his jail boxers and he still had the belly chains around his waist, although his hands were no longer affixed in the handcuffs,” Mr. Woo said, noting Mr. Abril’s jail pants were found nearby in a creek in the green space area.
After deputies recaptured Mr. Abril, he was relocated once again to Sutter Roseville Medical Center to be medically cleared, police said. The suspect was taken by ambulance to the hospital on July 6 for an unspecified “medical episode.”
“He’s being watched by six members of our SWAT team, and once he’s medically cleared, he'll be housed at the South Placer [County] Jail,” Mr. Woo said.
Authorities are investigating how exactly Mr. Abril escaped from the medical center. He was supposed to be under 24-hour surveillance at the hospital, but he managed to get away from a deputy by running down a flight of stairs, out the doors, and across a parking lot.
The sheriff’s office said the deputy guarding Mr. Abril was awake when the suspect escaped. The preliminary investigation determined Mr. Abril was able to “defeat his restraints,” including leg shackles, Mr. Woo said.
“As we conduct this investigation, we will not only look into the circumstances around the escape, but we’ll also review our policies, our procedures, and our equipment, quite frankly, to ensure that something like this never happens again,” Mr. Woo said. “I take full responsibility.”
More than 70 police from roughly a dozen law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and U.S. Marshals Service, searched the area throughout the day using helicopters, drones, police dogs, and armored vehicles to sweep through neighborhoods in the quiet suburbs.
Charges
In a press release, the Placer County District Attorney’s Office said Mr. Abril is facing charges of murder, aggravated kidnapping, and attempted murder of a peace officer, among other charges related to a shooting that happened at a Roseville park on April 6.Roseville, a city of about 150,000, is located about 16 miles northeast of Sacramento.
“Specifically, it is alleged the defendant attempted to murder a peace officer in a local Roseville park, which resulted in multiple injuries and one fatality. The complaint also alleges that Abril kidnapped a victim causing bodily harm and murdered another victim in the commission of a kidnapping,” according to a complaint filed by the DA’s office.
The shooting Mr. Abril is accused of happened in a local park where families played at nearby baseball fields and children attended camp. The event unfolded when California Highway Patrol officers were attempting to serve Mr. Abril a warrant, prompting him to flee the scene and take two civilians hostage, shooting both and killing one.
Mr. Abril was also hospitalized with gunshot wounds after the standoff that involved multiple responding agencies, according to a statement from the city of Roseville.
The DA’s office said it is also pursuing charges of possession of a firearm by a felon, alleging Mr. Abril was previously “convicted of a prior serious or violent felony.”
