Armed Inmate Holds Preschool Hostage, After Attacking Deputy
After disarming the deputy, Maurice Ainsworth forced his way into the Secret Garden Too Preschool, held a gun to the teacher's head and demanded her keys. He attempted to steal the teacher's car, but fled in the opposite direct as police approached the school.
Police apprehended an inmate Monday who led northern California law enforcement officers on a five-hour manhunt after he overpowered a lone deputy and broke into a preschool, reports the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
Maurice Ainsworth, who shot a bystander with the Santa Cruz Sheriff's deputy's service weapon, was apprehended after invading an occupied house.
Ainsworth escaped from Dominican Hospital for an MRI. He attacked the female deputy while being shackled.
Sheriff Phil Wowak said the injured deputy suffered some "pretty nasty wounds." In addition to being shocked with a TASER, she was hit a number of times in the head and bitten.
After disarming the deputy, Ainsworth forced his way into the Secret Garden Too Preschool, held a gun to the teacher's head and demanded her keys. He attempted to steal the teacher's car, but fled in the opposite direct as police approached the school.
Ainsworth was in jail awaiting a transfer to state prison to serve a three year sentence for armed robbery and home invasion. In January, he tied up homeowners in Boulder Creek and burglarized their house.
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