Man in police custody escapes from Grady Memorial Hospital

ATLANTA — Authorities are searching for a man who escaped from Grady Memorial Hospital while in police custody.

Grady says Aldontae Laron Armstead, 27, was in a room in the trauma center and when a Fulton County police officer left him unattended, he got up and walked away.

Armstead was arrested Thursday on Fulton Industrial Boulevard, where police say he ran from them and was injured during a scuffle.

Police say he's wanted on a sexual battery charge, human trafficking for sexual servitude, false imprisonment, a traffic violation, giving false information and now, escape.

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Channel 2’s Liz Artz spoke exclusively to Armstead’s mother, who begged her son to come forward.

“Dontae, baby, don't run. Stop running. Momma's here and I got you baby. Don't run,” Donna White said.

She says she is scared for her son’s safety and wants him to surrender.

“That's my main concern. I'm very scared for his life and I don't want to be one of the mothers where they say, ‘Well, your son was killed in police custody and it's OK.’ I'm afraid of that,” she said.

White says she was told her son was punched in the face and dragged by his hair, which is how he ended up in the Emergency Room.

“I think he's running out of scared. He's not sure what they'll do to him after they apprehend him,” White said.

White says Armstead’s ex-girlfriend was trying to get revenge on him and made up the sexual battery allegations.

“It's very upsetting because this is my baby and I love him so much and to know some kind of way he's gotten mixed up in all of this, he's really a good kid,” she said.

A spokesperson for the Fulton County Police Department told Artz the arresting officer did not secure Armstead properly when he stepped out of the hospital room. They said the incident is under investigation and the officer could be disciplined.

Cox Media Group