Ohio sex offender remains at large 1 day after escaping kidnapping arrest

GROVE CITY, Ohio (WCMH) – Police have entered their second day looking for a registered sex offender who escaped custody after being accused of kidnapping his ex-girlfriend.

Lancaster police started looking for 38-year-old Quinntel Bagley as an escaped prisoner around 1:22 p.m. on Thursday. While Grove City officers were taking him from Fairfield Medical Center to a cruiser, he ran away from them and out of the parking garage into woods nearby.

On Friday, Grove City police released bodycam videos from the two officers escorting Bagley out of the hospital. The recordings showed the group walking out of the entrance, with one officer holding onto Bagley’s arm and a female officer walking alongside a few feet away. Within seconds of walking onto the parking garage’s pavement, Bagley bolted away from the officer’s grasp.

Bagley then broke into a home and stole a car outside of the hospital in the 700 block of Pleasantville Road, according to Lancaster police. He was seen driving a silver or grey Hyundai Santa Fe at the intersection of Coonpath Road and Old Millersport Road. Grove City police later said they had found the car abandoned in the area of State Route 33 near the Hamilton Road exit.

Grove City police said Bagley was last seen moving on foot, trying to carjack someone around 4:45 p.m. Around the same time, a witness in an apartment complex by SR-33 spotted and filmed Bagley running into the woods behind the property.

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Ohio Department of Transportation cameras showed the car abandoned on the side of the highway, with law enforcement surrounding it around 5:30 p.m.

Lancaster police said Bagley should be considered dangerous, and if spotted the public should not approach him. A Grove City police lieutenant confirmed he was still at large as of Friday morning, and asked anyone who spots him to call 911. They noted an officer was injured trying to chase Bagley during the escape, but that did not stem from any kind of struggle or assault.

Grove City police had no other updates as of 12:30 p.m.

According to a Grove City police release, officers originally responded to reports of a missing woman around 4 a.m. The victim’s car was found abandoned at an undisclosed address.

Police suspected that the woman had been kidnapped and began searching for Bagley. Approximately three hours later, the woman was found at a Grove City gas station and Bagley was arrested a short time later.

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An investigation revealed that Bagley had surprised the woman at her home, grabbed her, and forced her into his vehicle, according to Grove City police. They said Bagley faces charges of aggravated burglary and kidnapping. With his escape from the hospital and seizure of a car, he could also face two additional charges, Lancaster police said.

A registered Tier II sex offender, Bagley had served 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to kidnapping and felonious assault in 2012. Three counts of rape, two counts of felonious assault and one count of kidnapping were dropped as part of the plea agreement.

Bagley had about three of five years remaining of post-release control when he was arrested Thursday.

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