Prisoner convicted of violent crimes escapes in Maryland

JESSUP, Md. -- Police say an inmate who escaped from the parking lot of a Maryland mental hospital freed himself from handcuffs and a waist chain while riding in a prison van.

Howard County police spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn said Friday afternoon that the handcuffs and chain were found near the van. She says 28-year-old David Watson was wearing all-white clothing and was last seen running into some woods Friday morning.

Llewellyn says Watson is serving a sentence of more than 100 years in Delaware for crimes including attempted murder. He's been charged with attempted murder and other offenses on Maryland's Eastern Shore related to shootings of police officers' homes.

Watson was being taken to the state hospital for an evaluation. Llewellyn says it's not clear whether the escape was planned or spontaneous.

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