The Flagler County Sheriff's Office re-arrested 29-year-old Anthony Romine on Saturday after he reportedly escaped AdventHealth while being treated for an injury he apparently sustained in jail. Romine was at-large for some seven hours until the ensuing manhunt located him in the woods just across the street.
Romine was initially arrested on July 3rd, charged with four felonies: third degree petty theft, two counts of counterfeiting, and violation of pretrial release. While in custody at the county jail, Romine reportedly suffered a fall requiring treatment at the nearby AdventHealth hospital on SR-100. The FCSO has since alleged that Romine faked this injury with an escape back to his home state of Ohio in mind.
While being treated at AdventHealth, Romine reportedly got up and left on-foot, simply walking out the front door of the hospital. A community-wide alert was sent out giving residents Romine's description and informing them that he was at-large and being searched for by several law enforcement units. Flagler County FireFlight helicopter was seen circling the area for much of the day.
The first lead in Romine's whereabouts came when he apparently entered the Amoco gas station just west of the I-95 overpass on SR-100. He's said to have gone in the business and asked to use a phone. A tip was given to the FCSO by an Amoco employee about a possible sighting of Romine, drawing a large law enforcement presence to the vicinity.
Some seven hours after he reportedly fled the hospital, Romine was apprehended shirtless and visibly dirty. He had apparently been hiding in the woods near the southwest corner of SR-100 and I-95, near the Amoco station he's said to have just left. According to the FCSO's statement, a K-9 unit bit Romine when he again attempted to flee deputies once they found his hiding spot.
Involved units in the manhunt included the FCSO's K-9 Unit and Drone Unit, Flagler County Fire Rescue FireFlight, Volusia Sheriff's Office Air One helicopter, and bloodhounds from the Tomoka Correctional Center. Romine is now additionally charged with escape, battery on an officer, and obstruction without violence.
"We worked until we got him. I commend our team for staying on his trail, and the community for 'seeing something, saying something' until this dirtbag was captured," said Sheriff Rick Staly after the incident's conclusion. "All he accomplished was to add additional arrests to his list of crimes and got bitten by our K-9, who gets a special treat for taking 'a bite out of crime' when he tried to flee again. Fortunately, no one was hurt except this dirtbag who was crying after he was caught by our K-9.”
Staly went on to say that the method in which Romine was able to successfully fake an injury to leave the confines of the jail is going to be investigated, including at a personnel level. “Now that he has been apprehended, we will start a review of the incident to determine how the deputy assigned to watch him was distracted that resulted in his escape," Staly said.
