Search Continues For Escaped Prisoner In Howard Co.

Howard County police are still looking for the Wicomico County inmate who escaped as he was being transferred to the Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center in Jessup.

David M. Watson, 28, was being taken to the hospital by Wicomico County correctional officers when he escaped and fled into a wooded area.

Watson is serving a Delaware sentence for the attempted murder of police officers and was in Wicomico County custody on similar charges there. Correctional officers yesterday drove to Delaware to retrieve Watson, who spent Thursday night at Wicomico County Detention Center. Two prison guards then took him to the psychiatric hospital for a court-ordered evaluation, Howard County police spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn said.

That evaluation was scheduled for 10 a.m. The van arrived at the hospital at 9:40 a.m. A guard opened the van door after it stopped in a parking lot outside the hospital. Watson pushed that guard to the ground. A waist chain and handcuffs were found at the scene. It's not known if he had leg shackles on. Though the prison guards were armed, they put their guns in lock boxes before the van door was opened, Llewellyn said.

"There's no indication at this time whether this was something that was planned in advance or if it was something impulsive," she said.

Llewellyn added police aren't aware of any contacts Watson has in the area. She referred questions about prisoner transport procedures to Wicomico County officials.

In at least three incidents, Watson had faced 60 charges. In 2013, he was convicted of shooting at the Laurel-area home of a Delaware police officer. He was sentenced to 106 years in prison in that case, despite claims from family members he was mentally ill, according to media reports. In two Eastern Shore incidents, a judge found him unfit to stand trial and ordered him committed.

Watson is described as a white male, 5 feet eight inches tall and 140 pounds. He was last seen in the area of Dorsey Run and Patuxent Range roads in Jessup. Though he was wearing all-white clothing when he escaped custody, Llewellyn said several articles of clothing were found in the wooded area through which Watson ran, so she couldn't say with certainty what he's wearing.

Howard and Anne Arundel county police and state troopers are searching the area with patrol officers, K9 units and a police helicopter. Anyone who believes they've seen Watson is asked to call 911.