ALTON - An Alton teen spent about two weeks in the hospital with severe head trauma after allegedly trying to run over a police officer with his truck.

But when he recovered, he walked away from McAllen Medical Center and it took another three and a half months for police to track him down again and charge him with attempted capital murder.

The 18-year-old, Erick Salinas, was arrested Aug. 21 after joyriding on a friend's motorcycle - without a helmet.

THE CHASE

Alton police Officer Jose Anaya clocked Salinas about 40 mph over the posted speed limit as he traveled down Mile 5 Road just before 3 a.m. March 30, according to the criminal complaint in Salinas' case. The teen went through five stop signs and stop lights with his headlights turned off.

The chase continued for about nine miles, to where McColl Road ends north of Monte Cristo Road in Edinburg, the criminal complaint reads.

Anaya tried to block the road with his squad car, thinking he had Salinas blocked in, according to the criminal complaint. But Salinas brought his truck around, revved the engine and headed straight toward the officer.

Anaya fired three shots at Salinas with his pistol as he backpedaled out of the accelerating truck's path, the court document states. Salinas sped off before the officer had a chance to catch up.

But later that morning, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers spotted the teen and chased him. The pursuit ended when Salinas crashed through a gas pipeline and collided with a tree. The wreck sent him to the McAllen Medical Center with severe head trauma that hospitalized him for about two weeks, said Andy Martinez, an Alton police sergeant.

THE RECOVERY

DPS troopers later radioed Alton police dispatchers about Salinas' injuries and informed them he was rushed to the hospital, according to the complaint.

It took "several weeks" for him to recover from the cracked skull and swollen brain he suffered due to the wreck, said Enrique Sotelo, the investigator who handled the case at the time.

No one knew whether Salinas was going to survive, said Alton police Chief Baldemar Flores. He was too injured to be formally charged, much less jailed, so Salinas stayed in McAllen Medical Center's intensive care unit.

Flores had a choice to make: Either assign an officer to monitor Salinas as he recovered, or leave him on his own and have the hospital contact authorities when he was set to leave.

Flores chose the latter.

But when Salinas recovered and left the hospital, Alton police heard nothing, the chief said.

"We said to give us a call to pick him up, and it didn't happen," Flores said. "It's a little frustrating."

THE PROCESS

Police departments face a tough choice when a wanted suspect has to be hospitalized before being arrested, said McAllen police Chief Victor Rodriguez.

Is the suspect likely to run? What's his criminal history? How serious is the charge the suspect faces? How much danger does the suspect pose to the public?

All are questions individual police departments must consider.

And it is not the hospital's responsibility to notify departments when it releases a suspect, Rodriguez said.

Alton's relatively small police force - with only eight patrol officers at the time - could not afford to devote the resources needed to constantly monitor Salinas.

"We don't have the resources," said Sotelo, now Alton's assistant police chief. "We would basically have one guy on the road."

THE DISCOVERY

Salinas had allegedly tried to evade Alton police in the past, but since officers knew where he lived, they didn't think he was a serious flight risk, even if he did survive and leave the hospital.

But Alton police did not realize Salinas had left the hospital until he was pulled over - again - on suspicion of speeding.

Sotelo said Salinas slipped through the cracks when the former investigator was promoted to assistant chief about six weeks ago, and the new man on the case - Martinez - put it on the back burner.

"We knew where he lives," Martinez said. "It was just a matter of time."

Salinas was arrested, charged with evading arrest and attempted murder of a peace officer, and taken to the Hidalgo County Jail. He faces five year to life in prison if convicted.

"He didn't run from us this time," Flores said.

Jared Taylor covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4439.