A Trumbull County jail inmate has escaped from St. Joseph Health Center after being taken there from Niles Municipal Court.

Inmate walks away from St. Joseph Health Center

Staff report

WARREN

A Trumbull County Jail inmate escaped from St. Joseph Health Center after being taken there from Niles Municipal Court.

Richard Harker, 32, of Ninth Street, Niles, was in custody for a hearing in Niles Municipal Court on Friday morning on a misdemeanor domestic-violence charge out of Weathersfield Township.

He pleaded not guilty, and Judge Thomas Townley set bond at $7,500.

Weathersfield police officers took him to the hospital for sickness about 10:30 a.m., though officials said they don’t know what his medical condition was.

While at the hospital, he walked away, according to jail officials and Tina Creighton, Humility of Mary Health Partners spokeswoman. As of late Friday night, Harker had not been captured.

Weathersfield police, who could not be reached to comment, left Harker at the emergency room and didn’t have an officer guarding him, Creighton said.

Warren police were notified about 3:30 p.m. and searched the area but did not locate him, Sgt. Bryan Holmes of the Warren Police Department said.

Harker may have left the hospital about 3:10 p.m. or as early as 1:30 p.m., Holmes said, explaining that the department received conflicting information about the time of the incident.

Harker also is charged in Niles with theft from the Macy’s in Eastwood Mall and is charged in Warren Municipal Court with two misdemeanor theft counts.

He was sent to prison for 22 months in 2012 by a judge in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court for theft, failure to comply with the orders of a police officer and receiving stolen property.