Two Polish police officers charged after 51-year-old dies following hospital escape

The escape

A 51-year-old man had been detained in Ostrów Mazowiecka on a wanted notice and was due to serve a six-month prison sentence for failing to pay alimony. Before being admitted to custody, he was taken to a hospital for medical tests. On 5 April, while officers were moving him from the X-ray room to a ward, he ran away. According to prosecutors, one officer kept watch over him while the other stepped away from the spot. One of the officers then started a pursuit beyond the hospital grounds, and prosecutors say the man did not obey orders while the officer fired a service weapon.

An ambulance was called to the scene, and the injured man was taken to a nearby hospital, where resuscitation was started. He could not be saved.

Autopsy findings

The post-mortem examination found gunshot wounds to both lower legs and a wound in the area of the right shoulder blade. A deformed bullet was recovered from the right deltoid muscle. According to an expert opinion, the gunshot injuries were not the direct cause of death. The direct cause was identified as cardiorespiratory failure, meaning the heart and lungs stopped functioning effectively.

Charges against Sylwester A.

Elżbieta Edyta Łukasiewicz, spokeswoman for the Ostrołęka District Prosecutor's Office, said the gathered evidence had allowed charges to be brought against two officers from the Małkinia police station, Sylwester A. and Paweł J. Sylwester A. faces two charges. The first concerns neglect of duties while supervising the detainee, because investigators say he did not put handcuffs on the man, which enabled the escape. The second concerns exceeding authority by firing three shots at the fleeing man, which prosecutors say had no legal basis. He is also charged with failing to provide medical aid, specifically by not dressing the gunshot wound to the right lower leg and by not performing chest compressions.

Charges against Paweł J. and preventive measures

Paweł J. is charged with neglect of duties. The charge covers not applying handcuffs to the detainee and leaving the scene at the time of the escape. Both officers were suspended from official duties and released on property bail as preventive measures. These measures do not amount to a verdict, and the charges have not been tested in court.

Status of the case

The charges were reported on 29 October 2026, and the case is being handled by the Ostrołęka District Prosecutor's Office. The prosecutors' account rests on the evidence gathered so far, including the findings of the post-mortem examination and the expert opinion on the cause of death. Under Polish procedure, the two officers are presumed innocent until a court rules otherwise.