Flagler County deputies arrest inmate who escaped from hospital in Palm Coast after a 7 hour search

BUNNELL, Fla. – The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office said deputies caught an inmate who escaped on foot while being treated at a hospital in Palm Coast after seven hours.

Anthony Romine, 29, was caught in the woods by the Amoco gas station near the southbound ramp at I-95 and State Road 100 in Palm Coast.

Watch the body-cam arrest footage below.

Officials said a K-9 patrol team tracked him and found him hiding under foliage and underbrush.

The clerk at the gas station notified deputies that Romine had come into the store and asked to use the phone.

FCSO said Romine was originally arrested on July 3 on a felony warrant for petit theft, violation of pre-trial release and two counts of counterfeit.

Officials said Romine was taken to the hospital after he had a fall while in jail. Detectives said he faked the injury in hopes that he could escape to Ohio, where he’s originally from.

“We worked until we got him,” Staley said. “I commend our team for staying on his trail, and the community for ‘seeing something, saying something’ until this dirtbag was captured. All he accomplished was to add additional arrests to his list of crimes and got bitten by our K-9, who gets a special treat for taking ‘a bite out of crime’ when he tried to flee again. Fortunately, no one was hurt except this dirtbag who was crying after he was caught by our K-9.”

News4JAX Crime & Safety Analyst Tom Hackney said it’s not uncommon to hear about an inmate escaping custody from a hospital.

“All these agencies work really hard to make sure that when they take someone from a jail facility, they keep them secure, but with different courses of treatment in the hospital; sometimes there are X-rays and movement in the hospital that it’s the weakest point those lines up with an escape attempt…”

Staly said the office is reviewing the escape to see how the deputy assigned to watch Romine got distracted, leading to his escape.