Escaped convict captured in Ohio

COLUMBUS, Ohio, April 3 (UPI) -- Police in Ohio captured an inmate who allegedly stole a guard's gun and uniform at a hospital and held a woman hostage at an accountant's office.

Police said Billy Jack Fitzmorris, 34, escaped from St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Youngstown, Ohio, Monday after threatening a prison guard with a prison-made knife and taking his gun and uniform, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported. He then allegedly robbed two banks before taking a woman hostage in an accountant's home office in Hilliard, Ohio. Witnesses told The Enquirer another woman jumped out of a window at the second-floor business.

Fitzmorris held the woman for about two hours, the newspaper said. Schools nearby were locked down during the incident.

Fitzmorris has been in prison on robbery, burglary and possession of stolen property charges in connection with a 1997 carjacking.