MRSA-infected Poland Village burglary suspect in confined medical unit
Staff report
POLAND
A MRSA-infected burglary suspect was found after she escaped from St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital on Thursday, and is in a confined medical unit at the Mahoning County jail after being released from the hospital around 3 p.m. Friday.
Poland Village police took Dawna Martin and Jason Sitnic, 28, of Youngstown, into custody Wednesday after getting a call about a burglary on Island Drive.
Village Police Chief Russell Beatty Jr. said the Mahoning County jail would not take Martin after she told officers she is infected with MRSA, a contagious infection, so she was transported to St. Elizabeth, where she spent the night.
Beatty said Martin was interviewed Thursday by several police departments regarding other burglary cases.
“They were definitely involved in other burglaries — a lot of other burglaries,” he said of the two suspects.
Martin walked out of the hospital sometime after she was interviewed, Beatty said, and was being sought by U.S. Marshals before being found. Sitnic is in the Mahoning County jail.
According to the WebMD website, methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a bacterium that causes infections in different parts of the body.