Nyeh
03-10-2005, 01:17 AM
Inmate escapes from Mesquite hospital
11:25 PM CST on Wednesday, March 9, 2005
By GRETEL C. KOVACH / The Dallas Morning News
Roy Gardner has spent almost 18 years of his life in prison, so when the 51-year-old federal inmate escaped from a Mesquite hospital Wednesday night, he called his older sister to warn her he "wasn't going back."
Mr. Gardner overpowered a security officer at Mesquite Community Hospital, stole his .45-caliber handgun and carjacked a van from a construction worker in the parking lot about 7 p.m., police said.
Mesquite police warned he was "very, very dangerous" and has a history of violence, but his sister said "he's not as bad as he sounds."
Courtesy
Roy Gardner
Mr. Gardner, a Dallas native, has prior convictions for possession of narcotics, burglary and being a felon in possession of a gun, records show.
His 62-year-old sister, who did not want to be identified because of concerns about her health, said he was being treated for tuberculosis. She said he had been released from prison recently but was reincarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution in Seagoville after he failed a drug test.
During his release he had stayed with his sister in Dallas.
He called her Wednesday night after his escape to warn her that authorities would be on their way, she said.
"I love my brother, but right now I think he's nothing but a damn idiot for walking off," she said. "He'll run and they'll shoot him. I'm worried because he's hellbent on running.
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"If you had spent 17 ½ years in lock-up, I'm sure you wouldn't want to go back either."
North Texas authorities were searching Wednesday night for Mr. Gardner and his getaway vehicle – a white Chevrolet van with "Ivy Mechanical" printed on the side and a Mississippi license plate beginning with "ATH."
A supervisor at FCI Seagoville declined to comment Wednesday night, and Bureau of Prisons authorities could not be reached for comment.
Police said he had been at the hospital since February.
Mr. Gardner's sister said he had been in trouble most of his life.
"We had a childhood that no child ever should have had," she said. "He came out of that prison after being locked up so long like a lost little child. He doesn't even know how to balance a checkbook," she said.
E-mail gkovach@dallasnews.com
11:25 PM CST on Wednesday, March 9, 2005
By GRETEL C. KOVACH / The Dallas Morning News
Roy Gardner has spent almost 18 years of his life in prison, so when the 51-year-old federal inmate escaped from a Mesquite hospital Wednesday night, he called his older sister to warn her he "wasn't going back."
Mr. Gardner overpowered a security officer at Mesquite Community Hospital, stole his .45-caliber handgun and carjacked a van from a construction worker in the parking lot about 7 p.m., police said.
Mesquite police warned he was "very, very dangerous" and has a history of violence, but his sister said "he's not as bad as he sounds."
Courtesy
Roy Gardner
Mr. Gardner, a Dallas native, has prior convictions for possession of narcotics, burglary and being a felon in possession of a gun, records show.
His 62-year-old sister, who did not want to be identified because of concerns about her health, said he was being treated for tuberculosis. She said he had been released from prison recently but was reincarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution in Seagoville after he failed a drug test.
During his release he had stayed with his sister in Dallas.
He called her Wednesday night after his escape to warn her that authorities would be on their way, she said.
"I love my brother, but right now I think he's nothing but a damn idiot for walking off," she said. "He'll run and they'll shoot him. I'm worried because he's hellbent on running.
Also Online
Video: Bert Lozano reports
"If you had spent 17 ½ years in lock-up, I'm sure you wouldn't want to go back either."
North Texas authorities were searching Wednesday night for Mr. Gardner and his getaway vehicle – a white Chevrolet van with "Ivy Mechanical" printed on the side and a Mississippi license plate beginning with "ATH."
A supervisor at FCI Seagoville declined to comment Wednesday night, and Bureau of Prisons authorities could not be reached for comment.
Police said he had been at the hospital since February.
Mr. Gardner's sister said he had been in trouble most of his life.
"We had a childhood that no child ever should have had," she said. "He came out of that prison after being locked up so long like a lost little child. He doesn't even know how to balance a checkbook," she said.
E-mail gkovach@dallasnews.com