A Saint Louis County District Court complaint accuses 41-year-old Bobbie Sue McElmury of escaping custody at Essentia Hospital in Duluth and resisting an arrest attempt the following day. The filing charges her with escape from custody, fleeing a peace officer on foot and obstructing legal process.
Warrant Arrest Turns Into Hospital Trip
The complaint, as summarized by mncrime.com, says Duluth police arrested McElmury on October 23 on a felony warrant from Pine County. At the jail, she allegedly tried to assault corrections staff and was injured as staff worked to secure her. She was taken to Essentia Hospital for medical clearance, according to the complaint.
At the hospital, an officer told McElmury she was still in custody and could face an additional escape-from-custody charge if she left, the complaint says. It alleges she then left the hospital while wearing orange jail clothing.
Found a Day Later, She Jumps From a Window
The complaint says an officer found McElmury at a Duluth address the next day and told her she was under arrest. She did not come out; instead, she opened a corner window and jumped outside, according to the filing.
She then ran to a nearby parking lot and got onto a truck, the complaint alleges. Officers pulled her down and restrained her in the truck bed. The filing says she resisted by keeping her hands underneath her.
Charges Filed in Saint Louis County
Filed October 27, the complaint lists escape from custody, fleeing a peace officer on foot and obstructing legal process. The Saint Louis County Attorney's Office prosecutes felony cases through the Sixth Judicial District, with proceedings heard in Duluth, Hibbing and Virginia. Saint Louis County is Minnesota's largest county by area and extends from Duluth to the Canadian border.
What Minnesota Law Says About the Charges
Minnesota law classifies attempts to evade a peace officer acting in the lawful discharge of official duties by running, hiding or another non-motor-vehicle means as a misdemeanor when done to avoid arrest, detention or investigation, or to conceal or destroy potential evidence, according to the Minnesota Revisor of Statutes. That provision addresses fleeing on foot; the verified material here does not specify a penalty range or explain the elements and penalties of the escape-from-custody and obstructing-legal-process counts.
