Falmouth police: Man rearrested after escape

FALMOUTH – A resident of a Locust Street halfway house was on the lam for nearly three hours Tuesday afternoon after escaping from the police officers who had taken him to the hospital after arresting him in a Simpson Lane parking lot.

At 3:30 p.m., police arrested Stephen Anthony Michalik, 54, on two outstanding warrants. He had allegedly been wandering around the parking lot of an auto body shop and appeared intoxicated when officers responded, according to police.

While booking Michalik at the Falmouth police station, the man began rolling on the floor, complaining of chest pains he said stemmed from a recent heart surgery, police said.

Police transported Michalik to Falmouth Hospital, where he allegedly escaped from the emergency room, police said.

Nearly two hours later, a woman reported her black Ford Taurus stolen from the parking lot of the Visiting Nurse Association on Ter Heun Drive, which is across the street from the hospital.

Michalik allegedly stopped by a Mashpee school to ask students for cigarettes and money before heading down Route 151 and entering Route 28 South, according to police.

Police eventually caught up with Michalik at 6:18 p.m., almost three hours after he was initially arrested, because he rolled over the stolen Taurus near the Thomas B. Landers Road off-ramp, police said.

This time, he was booked at the police station without incident, police said. He was uninjured in the crash, they said.

Michalik was charged with several offenses including being a fugitive from justice on a court warrant, larceny of a motor vehicle and several traffic violations.

He is the fifth resident of the Locust Street halfway house in the past three weeks to be charged with a serious crime by Falmouth police.