HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. – Officials are investigating after a man connected to a fatal stabbing escaped from custody while at Henry Ford Hospital.
Police are glad Joseph Ivan Gray, 37, is back off the streets, but there's an investigation underway to figure out exactly how he was able to walk out of a hospital and onto a busy sidewalk along Grand Boulevard without a single officer or hospital worker knowing he was in police custody.
Last Wednesday night, officers from Highland Park were baffled when Gray was nowhere to be found on the hospital grounds.
Highland Park police said Gray is a person of interest in a murder case. He was brought to the hospital Tuesday night, and 30 minutes later, he walked out on his own.
"There was a communication breakdown and he was able to flee the hospital," Blackman said. "We do know that he left in a hospital gown."
Henry Ford Hospital officials refute the Highland Park Police Department's account.
"The patient was brought by ambulance with no communication from police and no police supervision," hospital officials said in a statement. "The patient left on his own within 30 minutes wearing street clothes."
That's one of the many items under investigation by Highland Park police. The chief said it doesn't matter what Gray was wearing. He's more concerned about how Gray slipped through the cracks, placing so many in possible danger.
"The ball was dropped," he said. "But until we finish our investigation, we can't say by whom or who dropped the ball."
Originally, Gray was in custody at the Highland Park Police Department, but he ingested something and officers thought he needed medical attention. Hospital officials claim Gray arrived by ambulance.
"At least one officer should have been with him," the chief said.
The question is, where was that officer, and why wasn't it clear to the hospital that Gray was in custody?