Associated Press
Friday, November 21, 2003
PHILADELPHIA - A
burglary suspect whose faked suicide attempt allowed her to escape from a
Pennsylvania mental hospital six years ago was caught in a New York City
safehouse for fellow Gypsies last week, authorities said.
Teresa
Danielewicz, 48, who had taken refuge in a twin house in Brooklyn, tried to flee
through a network of tunnels that connected to other homes in the neighborhood
but was caught by police about a block away, officials said. At least seven
other fugitives got away.
Montgomery
County authorities said they were close to grabbing Danielewicz several times
over the years but she had always managed to escape, assisted by other Gypsies.
"From our
experience, this particular group of Gypsies traveled all over the world, and by
moving from place to place and having safehouses, they are able to elude
capture," Montgomery County First Assistant District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman
said Thursday.
Danielewicz had
been charged with two residential burglaries in Lower Merion Township, a tiny
suburb of Philadelphia, but had failed to appear for trial. Captured in Onondaga
County, N.Y., in 1997 and extradited to Pennsylvania, Danielewicz was sent to
Montgomery County Correctional Facility without bail to await trial.
While there, she
intentionally sliced her wrists, authorities said. She was sent to Montgomery
County Emergency Service, a nonprofit organization on the campus of Norristown
State Hospital where criminal defendants with mental health issues are taken for
evaluation and treatment.
"She faked this
suicide attempt so she could find herself in a less secure facility," Ferman
said. "There was a very clear plan to manipulate the criminal justice system and
mental health system to get what she wanted, which was her freedom."
On Dec. 2, 1997,
two of Danielewicz's friends, a man and a woman, came to the hospital claiming
to be friends of another patient. Danielewicz and the woman slipped into a
bathroom, and Danielewicz changed into the woman's clothes. Believing
Danielewicz to be the female visitor, a staffer allowed her to leave the
hospital with the man, authorities said.
Danielewicz, who
faces charges of burglary, criminal trespass, attempted theft, conspiracy,
escape and related offenses, is also wanted by authorities in New York, New
Jersey and Florida.
She was being
held without bail in New York City while Montgomery County authorities prepared
an extradition request. It was unclear if she had an attorney.
Dr. Rocio Nell,
chief executive and medical director of Montgomery County Emergency Service,
said Danielewicz's escape prompted the facility to tighten security. Now, a
visitor must be escorted out by the same staff member who escorted him in; all
visitors are required to sign in and sign out so the signatures can be compared;
all visitors must get their hands stamped; and patients who are flight risks are
placed in a more secure area.
"You
live and learn," Nell said.
