GLENDALE — Phoenix police tracked an armed suspect in a road-rage incident to a Glendale hospital Saturday, chasing him inside and forcing a lockdown of the facility before the man was caught casually trying to walk out about two hours later.
The incident led to a room-to-room search of a patient wing at Banner Thunderbird Medical Center by Glendale and Phoenix officers, but no one was hurt, Phoenix police Sgt. Joel Tranter said.
The man, identified as Robert Walter Talley Jr., 34, was reportedly armed with a handgun, but none has been found, Tranter said.
Hospital spokesman Bo Larsen said the hospital went into a prearranged lockdown procedure when police told them the suspect was inside.
The incident began about 11:30 a.m. when a Phoenix officer was flagged down and told of a man who was driving erratically and brandishing a handgun, Tranter said.
People are also reading…
"He didn't actually shoot at anyone or anything, but he was driving in a very reckless manner," Tranter said.
The officer broadcast a description of the man's pickup, and a police helicopter crew spotted it and tracked it as the driver turned into a hospital parking structure.
Officers were approaching the man when he spotted them and sprinted inside the hospital, running to an elevator. The doors closed before officers could catch up, Tranter said.
Officers fanned out in the hospital and began a full search of the wing where the man was believed to be hiding. The wing has about 85 cardiac-treatment beds and other treatment rooms, but it's unclear how many patients or workers were inside.
About two hours later, a Phoenix officer spotted a man matching the suspect's description, although he had apparently changed clothes, Tranter said.
"He was just trying to casually walk out one of the entrances," Tranter said.
The man was detained, then positively identified by witnesses and evidence in his vehicle as the suspect in the road-rage incident who had run into the hospital, Tranter said. He was arrested on unspecified charges.
arizona
