Police: Nurse assistant helped inmate escape with hidden key
MCKEESPORT (AP) – Police said a prisoner who managed to take off his handcuffs and flee a Pennsylvania hospital despite being shackled to his bed was aided by a nursing assistant who hid a handcuff key in a tissue tucked between two boxes of candy.
Forty-seven-year-old Michele Sims was arraigned Monday on charges including hindering the apprehension of inmate Alexander Erb. He escaped Oct. 12 from UPMC-McKeesport hospital and eluded authorities for more than 16 hours.
Police said the 26-year-old Erb was a cousin of Sims’ stepchildren.
The Port Vue woman is jailed on $5,000 bail pending a Nov. 9 hearing. Online court records don’t list an attorney for her.
Police said Erb had been arrested in a domestic dispute. He was under guard by a deputy but used a nurse as an obstacle as he escaped.