Suspect who walked away from Bellingham hospital was subject of police chase earlier Sunday
Police are searching for a man with multiple pending charges who walked out of a Bellingham hospital Sunday night and are asking anyone with information to come forward.The suspect, Jason John, was taken into custody following a police chase Nov. 10 in Bellingham. John was in violation of a felony domestic violence no-contact order, and the alleged victim was in the vehicle with him during the chase, according to Megan Peters with the Bellingham Police Department.
The chase started around 2:56 p.m. Sunday near James Street and Woodstock Way when officers attempted to pull over the suspect’s vehicle, a 2017 Toyota Camry.
The vehicle drove off, and police attempted a PIT (precision immobilization technique) maneuver to disable it but failed, Peters said. The vehicle slowed down enough for the victim to get out of the Camry.
The chase continued down James Street and then west on Telegraph Road, according to BPD The vehicle drove in the oncoming lane of traffic, and through multiple parking lots before crossing Meridian into the Bells Fair Mall Parkway. The vehicle continued east on Telegraph.
The chase came to an end when the vehicle hopped a curb and struck a stationary police vehicle. The two officers inside the vehicle were uninjured, but John was located inside the vehicle and was unconscious, Peters said.
John was taken to St. Joseph Medical Center for treatment. He was there for several hours before police received a call of his escape around 8 p.m., when he reportedly walked out the main entrance of the hospital, according to a social media post made by the Bellingham Police Department.
Peters told The Herald John was able to walk out of the hospital because he had not been placed under arrest. BPD had completed paperwork to take him into custody when the hospital staff told them he was awake, but he woke up and walked out of the hospital without hospital staff realizing.
Bellingham police have established probable cause to arrest him for attempting to elude police vehicles, violation of a domestic violence order and taking a motor vehicle without permission, according to a Bellingham Police Department social media post.
John is described as being 5 feet, 11 inches tall and weighing about 185 pounds. He has several face tattoos, including a red vertical line tattoo intersecting his right eye and a script neck tattoo on his left side.
He was last seen wearing a blue hospital gown and white socks.
Police believe he may have been in the Cornwall neighborhood.
People are encouraged to call 911 immediately if they have any information regarding his location.
This story was originally published November 11, 2024 at 11:17 AM with the headline "Suspect who walked away from Bellingham hospital was subject of police chase earlier Sunday."
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