Attempted murder suspect escapes Central District

Police said Paul Bryan Palmer, 32, was taken into custody on a warrant charging him with attacking a man last month near City Hall. At about 1 p.m. Friday, Palmer was to be transported to Central Booking and Intake Center when he complained of a hand injury and was taken back into the lobby of the department's Central District building on Baltimore Street, said Anthony Guglielmi, the department's chief spokesman.

Palmer was able to get free of the plastic handcuffs and ran off, Guglielmi said. Police searched for him for about an hour and are now asking for the public's help.

Palmer is described as white, bald, about 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighing 185 pounds.

Angela Johnese, juvenile justice director for Advocates for Children and Youth, said that at about 1:15 p.m. she saw police cars "coming and going in all directions around Gay, Lombard, Pratt and South." Officers on foot were posted on numerous corners, and walking in and out of parking garages.

"Makes for an interesting Friday afternoon at the Inner Harbor," Johnese said in an e-mail.
Guglielmi said Palmer has been charged in connection with an Aug. 31 incident in the 200 block of Davis St. in which a man was attacked and stabbed seven times.

Guglielmi said the victim had just gotten out of jail and went to his girlfriend's house, where he discovered she was living with another man – Palmer. The men got into an argument and police were called to the home, defusing the situation.

Later, the victim was getting off a bus and walking toward a homeless shelter when he was jumped by Palmer and two men. He was knocked to the ground and punched, then stabbed seven times.
Anyone with information about Palmer's whereabouts was asked to call 911.