Chase involving pizza deliveryman ends in ladies' room

(12/20/05 - WICHITA, KS) -- What started with a car theft turned into an escape and resulting chase that ended with the male fugitive being caught hiding out in a woman's restroom by an officer who received a ride from a pizza deliveryman.

Wichita police say an officer who stopped a car Sunday afternoon discovered that it was a vehicle stolen from a sales lot two days earlier. The driver, a 30-year-old man, said he had some injuries that needed treatment. Police, who didn't know the nature of the injuries the man claimed to have, had him taken to a hospital emergency room.

Police said that after being treated the man asked to use the restroom and an officer escorted him there and waited outside. A short time later, he was spotted in the air lock at the exit of the emergency room, and he ran out of the hospital with the officer in pursuit, police said.

The restroom had only one door, and police said the man must have stood on a railing in the stall, climbed into the ceiling and made his way to the exit.

Police said the man conned a motorist at a convenience store into giving him a ride. A pizza delivery driver who saw the pursuing officer gave him a ride and they followed the car to a fast food restaurant.

When the officer went in, he spotted the man peeking out the door of the women's restroom and took him back into custody.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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