A prisoner briefly escaped from a cell at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital Tuesday morning, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office said.
Deputies were guarding an inmate in a cell at the hospital when the prisoner was able to clamber up through a ceiling on the seventh-floor jail ward and escape at 9:45 a.m., a source in the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office with knowledge of the incident said.
The prisoner was detained by around 10:21 a.m., a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office said. Who confirmed the prisoner was not in their cell when deputies checked at 9:45 a.m.
“Based on the quick actions of the deputies assigned to this unit, they were able to thwart any possible escape by immediately locating the suspect within a secure area of the facility, where he eventually surrendered peacefully,” the spokesperson said. “The incarcerated person did not escape custody at any time.”
The seventh floor is the top floor of the hospital and is often used as a holding cell, the source said.
The identity of the escaped inmate has not been released. Police officers were seen responding to the area around the hospital on Potrero Avenue after 10 a.m.
A San Francisco police spokesperson deferred comment, saying the incident was related to a San Francisco sheriff’s facility.
Deputies have been complaining about staffing issues, which they say have hampered their ability to operate jails safely.
This is a developing story.