MEBANE, N.C. — Authorities said a man, who was injured when an 11-year-old armed with a machete thwarted a three-person home invasion in North Carolina, has been caught days after escaping from a hospital.
19-year-old Jataveon Hall showed up to the University of North Carolina hospital because the boy in the home hit him in the back of the head with the machete.
Officials said hospital police knew his charges, but Friday night, a nurse said Hall disappeared from the building wearing a hospital gown.
WRAL reported police arrested Hall at an apartment in Burlington around 1:15 p.m. Sunday after investigators got a tip.
He was taken to the Orange County Sheriff's Office, which had charged him in a Mebane home invasion Friday morning.
(Jataveon Dashawn Hall)
Officials said the boy was home alone Friday in Mebane when a woman knocked on the door. About the same time, Hall entered the home by breaking a window, grabbed the homeowner's pellet gun and forced the child into a bedroom closet.
The child got a machete and struck Hall in the back of the head. The man kicked the boy in the stomach and in the side of the head.
Hall, the woman and a second man standing at a car fled when the intruder realized he was bleeding.
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After Hall's escape from the hospital, the 11-year-old's family said they want someone to take responsibility.
"Who should have been there watching him? Who should have been there sitting outside the emergency department? Who is responsible for allowing this criminal to walk out of UNC Hospital?" said the boy's aunt, Ashley Matthews.
The boy's mother, Kaitlin Johnson, said she is furious because her son's life was in danger.
"It was infuriating. I didn't know how. Like, I just have so many questions," Johnson said.
"This guy that could have killed my child is on the loose. It was very scary."
The hospital said it is the Orange County Sheriff's Office's responsibility to monitor suspects in their hospital.
UNC Health Care released the following statement:
"This patient was admitted to the ED, but was in the legal custody of the Orange County Sheriff's department, which did not place an officer with him. In similar situations, hospital staff will often alert law enforcement personnel when a suspect patient is discharged, but they remain the legal responsibility of law enforcement."
Authorities said Hall faces charges that include kidnapping and they are still looking for the two other people involved.
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Associated Press
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