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Suspect discharged to freedom

Hospital authorities say they notified agencies with warrants on the man, but none came to arrest him.

By MOLLY MOORHEAD
Published April 19, 2006

As Christopher Charles Milland recuperated last week in a Tampa hospital, three law enforcement agencies had an interest in his whereabouts.

The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office had a warrant on Milland, 33, of Holiday, for failure to appear on charges of resisting an officer with violence.

The Alachua County Sheriff's Office wanted him on charges of introducing contraband into a detention facility.

A Maryland agency had issued a grand theft warrant.

But Milland, injured in an April 7 struggle in New Port Richey with two bail bondsmen, recovered and was released from Tampa General Hospital.

No bail bondsmen or sheriff's deputies were there to arrest him. He remains free.

Milland's criminal history dates to 1997, records show. But once Milland wound up in a Tampa hospital, Pinellas didn't have jurisdiction, spokesman Sgt. Jim Bordner said.

"We would not have left Pinellas County to go to another county to make an arrest," Bordner said.

Milland's medical condition played a role, too.

"He was injured," Bordner said. "Medical care would take precedence over trying to perform some legal function, especially service of a warrant."

Hospitals are often in touch with law enforcement when crime suspects and victims are being treated. Pasco has a policy of asking a hospital to call them before those patients are released.

Tampa General doesn't do its own criminal checks on patients, a spokeswoman said.

"We wouldn't routinely check when someone entered. We treat everyone fairly," said TGH's Ellen Fiss.

Further, state law doesn't mandate agencies to execute warrants. That decision is made locally, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in Tallahassee said.

Often, it comes down to money.

"From the minute you arrest them," FDLE's Tom Berlinger said, "you assume responsibility for their medical bills."

For that reason a case like Milland's is not uncommon, said Berlinger, who worked for sheriff's agencies for 30 years.

"The decision not to arrest somebody because they're in a hospital is made every single day of the year simply because of the financial impact on the sheriff's budget."

[Last modified April 19, 2006, 01:58:13]