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Montgomery County Police recaptured a robbery suspect this morning after he escaped from officers at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital.

Jose Nathaniel Melton, 23, of the 20100 block of Green Run Court in Gaithersburg was arrested Wednesday morning after an Exxon service station in Gaithersburg on Crabbs Branch Way was robbed about 9:55 p.m. Tuesday night by a man who implied he had a weapon hidden in his coat pocket, police said.

The man threatened to shoot the gas station employee and fled in a blue compact car with an undisclosed amount of cash, according to a county police statement and Capt. Paul Starks, a police spokesman.

The overnight duty commander at the 6th District police station spotted a vehicle driving erratically at a high rate of speed on Shady Grove Road away from the Exxon station, Starks said. A short pursuit ended when the suspect's car crashed into a tree at Shady Grove Road and Zetts Avenue in Rockville.

Melton bailed out after the crash and was found nearby along with the money from the gas station, police said.

Melton was identified as the robber and taken to police headquarters in Rockville for questioning, where he banged his head on a metal table to injure himself, police said. At 12:17 a.m. an ambulance was called and Melton was taken to Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in Rockville for treatment.

About 2 a.m., after he was treated, the 6-foot-tall, 220-pound Melton attacked the police officers guarding him, striking one in the face before escaping on foot wearing turquoise medical scrubs, red and black Nike sneakers and handcuffs, according to Starks and an online state court records database.

The officer who was struck did not require medical treatment, police said.

County police were joined by officers from the Rockville and Gaithersburg police departments as well as troopers in a Maryland State Police helicopter. About 5:15 a.m., officers spotted Melton in the Falls Grove Shopping Center and he was caught after a brief foot chase. He was found in front of a Panera Bread restaurant just a over a mile from the hospital, police said.

Melton was taken to the Montgomery County Detention Center. He faces charges of armed robbery, three counts of second-degree assault and second-degree escape.

Melton has an extensive criminal history in Montgomery County, according to the database. Melton pleaded guilty to possessing drug paraphernalia in November 2004 and pleaded guilty to two counts of drug possession in January 2007. He pleaded guilty to marijuana possession in June 2008 and pleaded guilty to attempting to flee police on foot, a traffic offense, in July 2008. He pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol in Germantown less than half a mile from the 5th District police station on Aug. 25 and was fined $300 and sentenced to 60 days in jail. He pleaded guilty to second-degree assault on Oct. 23 and was fined $1,500 and given a suspended sentence of nine months in jail and pleaded guilty to driving without a license in Gaithersburg on Dec. 7 and was fined $157.50.