Local News in Brief : AIDS Patient Arrested After Allegedly Fleeing Amid Threats

Oxnard police on Friday arrested an AIDS patient who fled the Veterans Administration Hospital in Sepulveda after threatening to pass on the deadly virus to anyone who approached him, authorities said.

He is being held on a provision of the Welfare and Institutions Code that applies to those seen as a danger to themselves or others.

Barry Joseph Debow, 28, was found hiding in a closet at a friend’s house in Oxnard at about 9:15 a.m., said Los Angeles Police Officer Bill Frio. Despite the alleged threats, Debow was taken into custody without incident, Frio said.

Oxnard police spotted Debow’s car in front of his friend’s house, Frio said, and three officers accompanied by a police dog discovered him in a bedroom closet.

Debow, whose last known address is in Oxnard, was transferred Friday morning by ambulance to an undisclosed VA hospital in Los Angeles for psychiatric evaluation. Police said they also have a misdemeanor charge of possession of marijuana pending against him.

Police described Debow as both “suicidal and homicidal” and were advised to use caution in approaching him.

He walked out of the Sepulveda hospital Wednesday afternoon before scheduled surgery for an AIDS-related sickness, threatening to inject his own blood into “anyone who comes in contact with him” and to “bite and scratch” anyone who tried to subdue him, Detective Andre Dawson said.

Debow also allegedly threatened to kill his previous employers at Rancho Encino Hospital, Dawson said.

Frio said Debow will be held for at least three days for psychiatric tests, a period that can be extended with a doctor’s request.