Va. prisoner Wossen Assaye indicted by grand jury | News
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (WUSA9) -- The prisoner who escaped from Inova Fairfax Hospital with a guard's gun in March was indicted by a grand jury Thursday.
Wossen Assaye, 43, of Arlington, Va. was charged with bank robbery, bank burglary, escape, kidnapping, assault, and related firearms offenses.
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Between October 2013 and March 2015, Assaye robbed multiple banks in Northern Virginia on five occasions and displayed a firearm twice, according to the indictment. Assaye was arrested and charged on March 25 for a bank robbery offense.
While at Inova Fairfax Hospital for treatment, police say Assaye escaped federal custody after police say he overpowered a private security guard at the hospital and took off with a gun.
Assaye was finally caught exiting a Metrobus at Minnesota Ave. and 25th Street in Southeast D.C., says Greg Cox, Acting Assistant Director of the FBI in Washington. Police say someone who knew about the search from social media spotted Assaye and called police.
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The indictment also charged Assaye with unlawfully possessing a firearm after being convicted of eight violent felonies, according to a news release sent out Thursday.
If convicted, Assaye could face a minimum of 122 years and a maximum penalty of life in prison.
Alexandria Sheriff's Office authorities say that Wossen Assaye was booked into the William G. Truesdale Adult Detention Center in Alexandria on federal charges on Saturday, March 21. They say that on Friday, March 27, he attempted suicide with a bed sheet and was transported to Inova Fairfax Hospital for treatment.
According to a federal affidavit, Assaye was involved in 12 bank robberies within a 17 month time period. He was most recently charged with robbery of the Apple Federal Credit Union in Alexandria on March 20.
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