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http://www.omniture.com --> Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Advertisement Email Story to a Friend June 9, 2006 Victor Villalobos Cops: Restless suspect back behind bars By anita burke Mail Tribune A Medford burglary suspect is back in custody after he escaped from a guarded hospital bed Thursday morning and led police on their second search for him in three days. At 9:52 a.m. Thursday, Victor Benjamin Villalobos, 29, of the 400 block of South Columbus Avenue, walked away from Rogue Valley Medical Center, where he was under police guard after being arrested on theft and burglary charges Tuesday after a chase. As he ran from police in the original chase Tuesday, he jumped a fence and landed in a pile of rocks and bricks, injuring his pelvis. His injuries sent him to the hospital instead of jail, and a police officer had stood watch at the hospital while he was treated, Medford police Lt. Tim George said. The officer on guard Thursday was at the nurses' station adjacent to Villalobos' room when the patient slipped out. George estimated Villalobos had been gone for 20 minutes before the officer and hospital officials noticed. He declined to identify the officer on guard duty. "We stubbed our toe here," George said. The hospital room had a bed alarm, a patient-care device that detects a patient's movement and sends a signal to nurses who can determine if the patient needs help, George said. Police also believed Villalobos was heavily medicated, George said. However, he got up, removed an intravenous drip from his arm, dressed in clothes kept in a bag in his room and walked out. Police searched the hospital, but, by watching security video, determined Villalobos had left the building, George said. They searched the neighborhood, watching pay phones, mini markets, buses and cabs. Detectives also went to places they knew Villalobos frequented. Officers found him about 12:30 p.m. across town when he pulled up in a car with two other people at the home of a friend who lives on Krissy Dee in a trailer park in west Medford, George said. "He is back in custody and we have some other people who will also face prosecution in this," George said. Villalobos was lodged in the Jackson County Jail Thursday on two counts of first-degree burglary, three counts of first-degree theft, and charges of first-degree aggravated theft and third-degree escape. He is suspected in burglaries reported May 25 and May 29, George said. Police were called to a disturbance at his home midday Tuesday. He fled, but detectives gathered more evidence linked to the burglaries. Police got a tip that he was at the Woodland Heights Market at 5: 10 p.m. Tuesday, but he fled out the back door as officers arrived. Diane Versteeg spotted him crawling out of a trailer of trash in her backyard on Farr Street about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday and called 9-1-1. "I was looking out the back door to call the cat," she said. "I saw this hand reach up out of a trailer where we store trash for runs to the dump." Versteeg watched Villalobos leave her yard and police intercept him at the end of her street when he tried to leap a fence. Suspects slipping from police custody isn't uncommon, George said. He noted, however, that he didn't know of any other cases locally where suspects had escaped while getting medical treatment. "This was our fault, no doubt about it," he said. "We will review and critique and train to make sure this doesn't happen again." George said police and hospital officials plan reviews to determine what went wrong and how to prevent similar escapes. He was lodged in Jackson County Jail on charges of third-degree escape, two counts of first-degree burglary, first-degree aggravated theft, two counts of first-degree theft by receiving and first-degree theft. He remained jailed late Thursday on $39,000 bail. In addition, Villalobos' girlfriend, Kristie Leeanna Brand, 23, was arrested on charges of hindering prosecution and second-degree theft by receiving. She was lodged in jail where she remained late Thursday on $9,000 bail. Police believe she assisted him in the escape and hid him from police afterwards. The theft charge against her stems from an earlier burglary allegedly committed by Villalobos. Police say they found checks from a residence in the 400 block of North Grape Street in Brand's possession. Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4485 or e-mail: [email protected] Reporter Chris Conrad contributed to this report. Advertisement s Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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