Search for inmate who escaped from Grady hospital enters second day
The search for an escaped Rockdale County inmate has stretched into its second day as authorities race to find a man they said fled a downtown Atlanta hospital and went on a getaway crime spree before his trail went cold.
Timothy Shane, 52, spent less than a week behind bars before he made his escape from Grady Memorial Hospital around 1:20 a.m. Monday, barefoot and in a medical gown, the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
He is then accused of stealing a nearby SUV and crashing it before swiping a Pontiac Grand Prix that he drove to a Henry County Publix on Ga. 155 north of McDonough. Authorities said he then ditched that car and hailed a ride-share vehicle. They said he also swapped his hospital garb for a red hoodie and dark blue pants and found some shoes.
By Tuesday, officials still hadn’t located him, but said they consider him “armed and dangerous.”
“Inmate Shane has a history of fleeing, along with felony drug and weapon charges,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
Shane had been “in deputy custody” when he made his hospital getaway, the sheriff’s office said. The incident comes just over a year after another inmate escaped from Grady and was on the run for nearly three weeks.
According to officials, Shane had been taken to Grady around 8 p.m. Sunday after attempting to hurt himself. After managing to escape, he stole an SUV parked near the hospital at Piedmont and Auburn avenues, officials added. He then crashed the vehicle less than a mile away, at Ivan Allen Jr. Boulevard, and ran from that scene, the sheriff’s office said.
The SUV owner reported a Glock handgun had been stolen from the vehicle, according to authorities.
Officials canvassed the area and said they spotted Shane on video stealing the silver Pontiac near Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The vehicle was eventually located about 30 miles away at the Publix near McDonough, the sheriff’s office said.
At some point, Shane caught a ride to a home in southern Rockdale County. Deputies obtained search warrants for that property, but did not find him.
The sheriff’s office declined to answer questions Monday about how Shane escaped, but confirmed he did not hurt any deputies or medical personnel in his getaway. The hospital is equipped with a detention center wing, though officials did not confirm if that was where Shane was being held.
In a statement, a Grady spokesperson said hospital policy requires “the custodial law enforcement agency must have one-to-one oversight” of inmates who are receiving treatment “at all times.” The spokesperson referred additional questions to the sheriff’s office.
Shane was arrested by Conyers police and booked Nov. 24 on several charges, according to online Rockdale jail records. They include felony fleeing a police officer, reckless driving, possession of methamphetamine and multiple illegal weapons charges.
Officials said Shane is 5 feet, 9 inches tall with a buzzed haircut.
The Atlanta Police Department was assisting in the search.
In a separate case on Sept. 27, 2024, Carwon Redding fled Grady amid power outages caused by Hurricane Helene. He’d been arrested by MARTA police on several charges, including murder, filed by Atlanta police in connection with a shooting in April of the same year.
He was apprehended just under three weeks later on Oct. 16, though officials didn’t say where he was or how he was found.
Redding’s case remains open, according to Fulton County Superior Court records.
Anyone with information about the Rockdale case is asked to call the sheriff’s office at 770-278-8000 or email rcso.pio@rockdalecountyga.gov.
