Man escapes custody at Mount Sinai Hospital
Posted March 15, 2017 9:19 am.
Last Updated March 16, 2017 9:38 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Toronto Police Service is conducting an internal review into how it performs prisoner escorts to hospitals after a man escaped custody at Mount Sinai on Wednesday morning.
Police say Andrew Smith, 36, was at the hospital to receive treatment for an undisclosed medical condition when he fled his guards.
“He was able to escape from the hospital where he was under police supervision.” Const. Jenifferjit Sidhu explained.
“There’s security guards, there’s nurses, there’s patients. He was able to flee everyone within the hospital and exit through the University Avenue doors.”
According to police, Smith was last seen near University Avenue and Gerrard Street around 7 a.m. on Wednesday.
He is five-feet-eleven-inches tall and 130 pounds. He has receding brown hair and wears glasses. He was last seen wearing a navy-blue sweater, brown pants, and dark shoes.
Smith is charged with carrying a knife and threatening to kill a University of Toronto security guard. The school released another photo of Smith in a campus-wide warning.
Police are warning the public not to approach Smith, but instead to call 911.
His escape has prompted the police’s Professional Services Unit to investigate its protocols when it comes to supervising prisoners at hospitals.
“That investigation will include a review of the officers’ actions as well as our policies and procedures into these types of escorts,” Toronto Police spokesperson Meaghan Gray said.
“The outcome could involve a change in our processes or procedures. It could include an update to our training for our officers. The officers themselves could face potential discipline if that’s found to be the case. There are a number of different outcomes that could result from the Professional Standards investigation.”
Gray said the investigation could take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks to complete.
It also comes after a violent suspect escaped custody earlier this year at Toronto General Hospital.
Justin Yates, 39, was taken to hospital on Jan. 26, and recaptured about three weeks later — on Feb. 12.
