A 19-year-old home invasion suspect who was attacked by an 11-year-old boy with a machete was captured at his mother’s apartment after he fled a North Carolina emergency room late Friday.
Police say Jataveon Hall was captured at the Burlington apartment of his mother and stepfather nearly 48 hours after he “left the hospital.”
Investigators say Hall and two accomplices broke into an occupied home in Mebane, NC on Friday.
A female accomplice knocked on the front door of the home. When the 11-year-old boy answered the door, she distracted the child while Hall and another male broke into the home through a window at the back of the house.
Hall grabbed a pellet gun in the home and forced the boy into a bedroom closet, telling him to stay there.
As the home invaders carried electronics – including a television and a PlayStation – to a waiting car, the boy, described as a “very tough” baseball star, managed to escape from the closet and retrieve a machete.
The boy confronted Hall with the weapon and began swinging, striking Hall at least once in the back of the head when he turned to run.
Bleeding profusely from his head wound, and needing emergency medical attention, Hall made his way to UNC-Hillsborough Hospital.
Deputies were notified when Hall arrived there. The hospital’s security and local law enforcement have an agreement to detain suspects until police arrive.
But communication broke down when Hall’s condition deteriorated and he was transferred to UNC-Chapel Hill Hospital late Friday.
Hall’s condition apparently improved at UNC-Chapel Hill Hospital, and the medical staff allowed him to leave against medical advice.
Hall, who was wearing a hospital gown and blue socks, strolled past a nurse on his way out the door. He reportedly told her the police would be looking for him.
Surveillance video shows Hall walking away from the hospital while still wearing the hospital gown and blue socks. He was carrying a cup of water.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office was not notified of Hall’s departure until he was long gone.
“Most concerning of all is that hospital police did not even know Hall had left the premises almost ten hours prior,” Chief Deputy Jamison Sykes told reporters. “Indeed, Hall’s absence was only discovered when we placed a phone call to them.”
Hall is being held at the Orange County Detention Center on $100,000 bond.
He is expected to be charged with breaking and entering, second-degree kidnapping, interfering with emergency communications and assault on a child under 12.
UNC-Hillsborough Hospital administration is reviewing its policies with hospital security.
