LAKEWOOD — When a man accused of torturing a Lake Stevens woman to death broke out of Washington state’s largest mental hospital with another patient in early April, officials called it a rare occurrence and cited only two other escapes in the past seven years.
But a review of police reports and interviews by The Associated Press reveal 185 instances in which patients escaped or walked away in just the past 3½ years or so.
Patients have bolted out unsecured doors, jumped over fences, crawled out windows, run away from staff during off-campus appointments and wandered off after being allowed outside the building.
Some returned on their own within hours, but many disappeared for weeks or longer. Police captured them down the street, in nearby cities, in faraway counties and in other states. Others were never found.
At least five patients committed assaults or other offenses while they were out, authorities said.
Lakewood police reports obtained by the AP through a public records request list the incidents differently depending on the circumstances of the disappearance or who wrote the report, but the files show 71 “AWOL” patients, 43 escapes, 70 missing persons and one unauthorized leave between the start of 2013 and late April of this year.
Dennis Brockschmidt, a nurse at the institution for 18 years, said it is easy for patients to get out.
“It has happened many times,” he said, recalling one patient who kicked out windows and others who picked locks with paper clips. One patient tossed his mattress out a third-story window and jumped, Brockschmidt said. He broke his leg but made it to a city 25 miles away before getting caught. He tried again six more times, the nurse said.
Kathy Spears, spokeswoman for the Department of Social and Health Services, said escapes from inside the hospital are “extremely rare.”
She said most reports to local police involve patients who don’t return after being allowed to leave hospital grounds for a short time — a practice intended to help them ease their way back into the community.
“We continue to make adjustments to our policies on grounds privileges so they meet the recovery needs of the patients, while keeping them, staff and the community safe,” Spears said in a statement.
Most of the missing patients were held under Washington’s involuntary commitment law, which says people can be locked up if a mental disorder makes them a danger to themselves or others. Some of the missing had been hospitalized after being charged with such crimes as murder, rape, kidnapping, assault and robbery.
Yet in most cases, the staffer who reported the escape wrote “no” in the box that said “Dangerous.”
“For God’s sake, many of these people are seriously dangerous,” said Dr. Richard Adler, a forensic psychiatrist who has worked on civil commitment cases for years. He said patients flee without medications or a treatment plan.
In the April 6 escape that exposed security weaknesses at the 800-bed psychiatric hospital, Anthony Garver and another man broke out of their locked unit by crawling out of a window of their ground-floor room. Garver, 28, had been institutionalized after being found incompetent to stand trial on charges of murdering Phillipa S. Evans-Lopez, 20, by tying her up with electrical cords, stabbing her 24 times and slashing her throat.
His fellow patient, Mark Alexander Adams, was caught the morning after the escape 27 miles away. Garver rode a bus 300 miles to Spokane and hid in the woods near his parents’ house for two days before he was found by a search dog. Both men were captured without incident.
Gov. Jay Inslee reacted by firing the hospital’s CEO, and the Corrections Department was brought in to inspect the building for security improvements. The department closed the ward where the escapees had been living and moved similar patients to a more secure area.
Even before the breakout, federal regulators had threatened to cut millions in funding for the hospital because of patient attacks on staff members and other patients.
When Garver was captured, the sheriff in Spokane criticized the state for not keeping a violent criminal locked up. Lakewood Assistant Police Chief John Unfred responded: “Welcome to our world.”
The institution is “right in the middle of our community,” said Unfred, whose city of 58,000 people is about 40 miles from Seattle and 10 miles from Tacoma. Most of the patients haven’t been charged with a crime so they can’t be treated like jail inmates, he said, “but there has got to be a way to keep them secure and safe.”
Western State Hospital, a sprawling multi-story brick building, is surrounded by a waist-high stone fence but no barbed wire or guard towers. Patients are kept in locked wards with varying levels of security.
Depending on how well they have responded to treatment, some patients are allowed out on the grounds. Others can venture beyond the property, some with an escort, some without.
Across the street are a soccer and baseball field, playground and park. Steilacoom High School sits on one corner of the hospital grounds, and runaway patients sometimes head in that direction, forcing the school into lockdown.
Thomas Shaw, who lives in a nearby apartment, said he sees patients around town. He said they don’t bother him as long as they’re quiet, but he steps in or calls the police if they get aggressive.
Shaw and others said they generally feel safe because they believe patients who have permission to be outside are harmless and the ones who escape flee the area.
But that’s not always the case. A patient who was at the hospital in 2002 for a competency evaluation after being arrested on burglary and animal-cruelty charges climbed a security fence and escaped. He tried to get into one nearby home and ran in and out of another before being caught.
Of the 185 escapes or walk-offs uncovered by the AP, the public was never notified at the time about 180 of them, even though many of them had violent histories, were convicted felons or registered sex offenders, or were the subject of protection orders.
Henry Richards, a forensic psychologist who was chairman of the state’s Public Safety Review Panel until 2014, said the hospital “has not done a good job of knowing which patients were missing or where they were.”
In some cases, hospital officials gave police incorrect information on the status of escaped patients, such as whether their commitment periods were up, according to the police files.
A staffer told police that a patient who disappeared in 2014 returned the same day, but a later report said the Snohomish County Sheriff’s office picked him up five days after he skipped out. After Garver broke out, someone at the hospital filed paperwork wrongly releasing him from his state commitment.
Spears, the social services spokeswoman, said letting patients out is part of treatment because it helps them become more comfortable around other people.
But Richards said the hospital needs to “tighten up those privileges.”
“The perceived needs of the patients took priority over public safety concerns,” he said.
Escaped and missing patients from Western State Hospital
An Associated Press investigation, based on a review of police reports, has found 185 instances since 2013 in which patients at Washington state’s largest mental hospital escaped or walked away.
Examples of escaped and missing patients from Western State Hospital:
Jan. 9, 2014: A patient disappeared after he was given permission to go outside. Hospital staff told police the patient “has not been taking his psychiatric medications since he left on Jan. 9. He has a history of violence when he’s not taking his meds.” On June 14, 2014, he was arrested by Tacoma police on a domestic assault charge and taken to jail.
Sept. 14, 2015: A female patient who failed to return from grounds privileges was arrested two days later by the Seattle police on an assault charge. She was booked into the King County Jail. Her most recent convictions were assault and making threats to kill someone.
Feb. 17, 2015: When a 62-year-old patient didn’t return after being seen smoking on the east campus, hospital security warned police he had not taken his medications that day and he may be aggressive. When two Lakewood police officers tried to stop the patient, he punched one of the officers in the face. They used a Taser to get the patient into handcuffs.
March 20, 2015: A female patient who was granted a leave by hospital staff disappeared and couldn’t be found. She was arrested on April 28, 2015 in Snohomish County by the police and booked into jail.
Nov. 25, 2013: A patient ran from staff while going to an appointment. He headed toward the Steilacoom High School next door to the hospital. Police later received a call from someone who said a man who met the patient’s description asked her for a ride near a park, saying he was tired of being homeless. When police found him he was returned to the hospital.
Aug. 13, 2014: A 34 year old male patient on a 90 day civil commitment went missing. On Aug. 19, 2014, the hospital told police that he had returned that same day. But the police report says the Snohomish County Sheriff’s office found him in Everett on Aug. 18, 2014 and took him to a Seattle hospital.
Feb. 7, 2015: A 44-year-old male patient was with a group being escorted to the snack room when he took off running out the door. Hospital staff said he was not dangerous but has a history of putting himself in dangerous circumstances. When a Lakewood Police officer found him three days later, he said the patient rambled nonstop and “talked about cutting my head off.”
April 28, 2015: A 19-year-old patient who failed to return to the hospital was identified by police to be a violent offender who was a serious threat to law enforcement. He had had previously assaulted an officer and there was a protection order that made him prohibited from seeing certain people. On May 3, 2015, a family member brought the patient back to the hospital.
April 21, 2014: When a 67-year-old patient walked away from his ward, the hospital told police he was a level-one sex offender. The police report said “They advised that he is not committed for that and he is not a danger to self or others.” The police checked his history and found the patient had a lengthy history of escape from the hospital. The police had no follow-up reports on the patient.
May 20, 2014: A 25-year-old patient walked away from the hospital. On May 29, 2014, he was found at a Dairy Queen in Boulder, Colorado.
Feb. 28, 2013: A female patient was last seen on Ward S7 at 12:45 p.m. The following day, a Pierce County Transit Officer reported that an elderly female was at the Lakewood Mall Transit Center and appeared confused. She told the officer she left the hospital a few days ago and wanted to return.
April 8, 2015: A patient didn’t return after being allowed on hospital grounds. The following day, police were called to Target on a report of an unwanted customer who was yelling “and getting into customer faces.” The police found him in the parking lot and took him to Saint Joseph Hospital and advised Western State staff he was in custody.
Jan. 16, 2015: A patient diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder had been off his medications when he escaped by forcing his way out a door as an employee entered. He had been convicted of assaulting a nurse, causing a brain injury. He ran across the street into Fort Steilacoom Park and was later caught at the Lakewood Mall Transit Center.
March 3, 2013: A “gravely disabled” patient who was on an authorized leave got out of a friend’s car and began “vaguely threatening” her. He was carrying a suitcase and two duffel bags and left the area. He was later picked up by Seattle Police, who took him to Harborview Medical Center. He was returned to Western State Hospital.
Jan. 24, 2015: A 59-year-old female patient took a bus to Swedish Hospital to visit a relative but never returned to Western State. Staff reported she has paranoid thoughts and was on a variety of medications and a history of substance abuse. She was a convicted felon on assault and theft charges. On March 3, 2015, police received a fax saying her commitment order had expired and they no longer had legal authority over her.
April 4, 2014: A patient who failed to return from hospital grounds was found the next day in a Seattle hospital. He had been staying with his girlfriend when he experienced a diabetic problem and called 911. On June 17, 2014, Seattle Police confirmed he was at the hospital. He was reportedly a previously deported felon who was wanted on an immigration violation.
June 18, 2015: A patient who left the hospital and didn’t return was later found at his father’s house in Lane County, Oregon, according to the sheriff’s department. Western State Hospital security said they wouldn’t go out of state to pick up a patient. They said they knew were the patient was and was trying to get him at the Washington/Oregon border.
April 21, 2014: A patient on an involuntary commitment from Whatcom County went to the library at 2 p.m. and didn’t return. Staff said she was not dangerous to the public “but does put herself in dangerous circumstances.” The following week, she was brought back to Western State by ambulance.
Jan. 6, 2015: A patient who was waiting for a competency evaluation after being charged with felony domestic violence and witness tampering escaped. A judge had issued a temporary release for him to attend a funeral. Police said he was a possible threat to the victim and the witness of the domestic violence crimes. King County officers did a welfare check of the victim and witness while he was missing. The patient later returned to Western State Hospital.
March 27, 2013: A patient didn’t return to his ward after a scheduled activity. On April 5, 2013, staff said he was discharged from his unauthorized leave status, ending the hospital’s legal authority to detain him.
Oct. 3, 2014: A male patient went missing at 7:30 p.m. after failing to return from hospital grounds. He was on a 180-day commitment that expired on Jan. 7, 2015. But on Nov. 4, 2014, police received a fax from staff saying his commitment had expired. The Chelan County Sheriff’s Office found him on Nov. 2, 2014 and the hospital said he was not considered missing.
March 11, 2013: A 34-year-old patient failed to return to his ward after being out on hospital grounds. He later called his sister and said he was in the emergency room at Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup and wanted to go back to Western State. Police brought him back.
Jan. 30, 2015: A patient who was on a civil commitment after being charged with assault and attempted murder failed to return to his ward after being outside. He was granted grounds privileges because he had been taking his medications. Staff said he can be assaultive if he doesn’t take his medication. He was last seen at a bus stop across from the hospital. He returned the following day.
March 9, 2015: A patient who left on foot after returning from a dentist appointment was seen heading toward a nearby park. His recent convictions included theft and “riot-deadly weapon.” Staff said he returned the next day.
March 12, 2013: A male patient allowed out on hospital grounds did not return. Police received a call from an employee at a paint store across town who said there was an elderly man sitting on the sidewalk, acting confused. When the officer arrived, the man said he didn’t know where he was “but knew he was going to be in trouble. When asked why, he stated because he shouldn’t have left the hospital.”
June 1, 2013: A female patient who went missing was last seen walking toward a grocery store. On June 4, 2013, Everett police said they found her. She said she was confused and had been riding the bus all day. She was taken to Providence Hospital and then sent back to Western State.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
