Hospital Houdini--Manhattan Man Who Stole Ambulance in Escape From Silver Cross Once Slipped Out of St. Joe's: Police

By Joseph Hosey

The Manhattan man charged with stealing an ambulance while escaping from Silver Cross Hospital once slipped away from Joliet’s Provena St. Joseph Medical Center by climbing out a second-story window, police said.

Ross Crampton, 30, was charged with possession of a stolen law enforcement vehicle, possession of a stolen truck and criminal damage to property after the cops caught him at the home of an acquaintance not far from the New Lenox hospital early Sunday morning.

Crampton reportedly ended up at the hospital after he called the Manhattan cops shortly before midnight Saturday and told them his own car had been stolen. It was evident Crampton was “suffering from some mental illness,” said Manhattan Police Chief Joseph Wazny, and officers told him he needed to go to the hospital.

Crampton refused, police said, and he barricaded himself in his home. The Manhattan police reportedly called in the county cop’s Special Operations Group, and after a few hours Crampton emerged and agreed to go to the hospital.

Crampton was taken in a police-escorted ambulance to Silver Cross and was involuntarily committed for a psychiatric evaluation, police said. Within an hour of officers departing the hospital, he allegedly stole the ambulance and made his escape.

The Kurtz ambulance was equipped with a GPS and officers tracked it down to a residence on Locust Street. Crampton’s acquaintance was inside “yelling for help,” police said, and when the officers entered Crampton made a run for it. He was captured outside the house.

Chief Wazny said he expected Crampton to be hit with additional charges in connection with his dealings with police in Manhattan.

Silver Cross Community Relations and Marketing Director Tracy Simons confirmed that Crampton was not allowed to leave the hospital. Simons declined to elaborate on the security measures Silver Cross employs for involuntarily committed patients.

Silver Cross wasn’t the first hospital Crampton allegedly managed to slip away from—in November 2005 he escaped from what is now Presence St. Joseph Medical Center, police said.

Crampton climbed out of a second-story window, police said. He was reportedly spotted on a rooftop but still managed to succeed in getting away.

A short time later, Crampton’s father called the law and said his son preferred to be treated at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, police said.

Crampton was a football standout at Joliet Catholic Academy and went to Illinois State University after graduating high school. In September 2004, when he was 20, Crampton was arrested and charged with felony aggravated battery in McLean County. Ten months later he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery. He was sentenced to two years probation.

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