Woman Escapes Detention, If Only Briefly, After Donning Doctor's Coat Following East Austin Arrest

EAST AUSTIN, TX — She's not exactly a master of disguise, but a woman recently arrested by police was able to walk away from detention after grabbing a doctor's coat from a medical facility to which she had been transferred.

Details were released via an arrest affidavit stemming from the Jan. 14 arrest, as KEYE reported. That's when police were called to the Family Dollar store at 1508 Montpolis Dr. after the cashier called police to report four men and a woman were harassing customers in asking for money. Arriving police advised the woman, identified as Deeanna Marie Gibbs, 33, to wait as they prepared a trespassing warrant, according to the report.

According to the affidavit, police describe Gibbs as seemingly impatient as she started to nervously dig through her purse. Inside the bag, police later discovered were cotton balls, saline containers and components for syringes, according to the report. Also, police saw a purple case filled with plastic baggies believed to contain heroin residue along with a heroin-filled syringe.

Gibbs was promptly transported to Travis County Jail before a nurse referred her to the hospital for treatment of an infected finger. Once at the hospital, the woman repeatedly asked to use the bathroom. After finally being allowed to do so, she was nowhere to be found—prompting police to search the hospital grounds for about an hour before the search was called off.

About two hours later, downtown patrol officers spotted Gibbs walking along the Interstate 35 frontage road, wearing a doctors's coat labeled "Austin Radiological Association, Andrew R.M.D."

The ploy wasn't exactly what the doctor ordered. The woman was re-apprehended with an additional charge of escape from custody, a third-degree felony. According to Travis County Jail records, Gibbs was charged with possession of a controlled substance (less than one gram) and the escape charge, with bonds set at $10,000 and $25,000, respectively.

>>> Read the full story at KEYE

Image via Shutterstock