Police: Prisoner walks away from Cape hospital

A Cape Girardeau County Jail inmate on medical furlough late Wednesday afternoon walked away from Saint Francis Medical Center.

Tommie K. Keely, 44, of St. Louis, was at the hospital on a medical furlough granted Tuesday by Associate Circuit Judge Gary Kamp. He had previously been in jail with a $3,500 cash-only bond following his arrest Feb. 2 for failure to appear in court on a charge of driving while revoked and speeding.

It was the second time Keely has fled while being allowed out of jail for treatment of high blood pressure.

Keely was last seen in a white Chevrolet Corsica about 4:40 p.m., said Lt. David James of the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department.

Keely was in a jail uniform when he left the hospital but was not under guard while there, James said.

"We released him from our custody and told him to report back," James said. "If he doesn't report back, he could be charged with failure to return to confinement."

A furlough is typically granted when an inmate being held on minor charges needs medical treatment, James said. Inmates being held on felony charges would be accompanied to the hospital by a guard, he said.

Keely was originally charged in March 2005 after being stopped by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, according to court records available on the Internet. Soon after his arrest, Kamp allowed him to go to a hospital for treatments for high blood pressure, the court records said, but Keely did not return to jail when the treatment was finished.

Keely's next scheduled court date is Feb. 16.

rkeller@semiussourian.com

335-6611, extension 126