Federal marshals tracked down a Bucks County inmate who slipped out of custody during a hospital visit, finding him at a warming center in Carlisle, authorities said. The 57-year-old, Shawn Dempsey, was taken back into custody last night after traveling from Philadelphia to the Harrisburg area. Investigators say he walked away from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania campus during a late-January medical appointment arranged by county corrections officials.
According to FOX 29 Philadelphia, members of the U.S. Marshals Service’s Eastern Pennsylvania Violent Crime Fugitive Task Force located Dempsey at a Carlisle warming center and took him into custody without incident. The station reports investigators believe Dempsey left the hospital campus, traveled to Harrisburg and then continued on to Carlisle before he was apprehended.
Local court paperwork, as reported by the Bucks County Courier Times and republished by Yahoo, says Dempsey had signed an agreement not to leave the hospital and that officers later learned he had removed an IV and exited the building via 36th Street. That account also notes Dempsey was jailed in October on parole violations and is now facing a felony escape charge.
How the search ended
Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert Clark described the arrest as “swift,” and said, “No matter the circumstances, those who escape from lawful custody must be brought back,” in a press release reported by FOX 29 Philadelphia. Marshals said the operation wrapped up without incident on Thursday evening and that Dempsey was transported into federal custody pending transfer back to local authorities.
Why marshals get involved
Federal fugitive teams are often called in when inmates slip away from local custody, particularly after hospital visits that take them beyond city limits. The Philadelphia Inquirer has documented several recent cases in which marshals helped locate fugitives after hospital escapes, underscoring the interagency playbook behind these kinds of captures…