Washington state mental hospital under fire after escapes, violence
SPOKANE, Wash. --The manhunt is over for a violent offender who escaped a Washington state psychiatric hospital.Anthony Garver was captured without incident late Friday night.
The 28-year-old Garver had been on the run since Wednesday, after he and another patient, 58-year-old Mark Adams, escaped from the state's largest psychiatric facility by climbing out of a window.
Adams was arrested the next day in Seattle, but Garver boarded a bus to Spokane and eluded authorities until a police K-9 was able to track him down.
"They got a strong hit," Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich said. "They stayed on the trail, lost it, backed up relocated it and found Mr. Garver hiding under a pile of debris."
Garver has a lengthy criminal history and was charged with the murder of 20-year-old Phillipa Evans-Lopez in 2013. After she bought Garver breakfast at McDonald's, investigators say he stabbed her 24 times. But a judge found Garver was mentally incompetent to stand trail.
His escape from the hospital is the latest in a litany of problems at the state-run Western State Hospital, where Craig Gibelyou is a nurse.
"We are like a revolving door," Gibelyou said. "We get people at the hospital, they frequently leave, shortly after they learn what their wages are going to be."
Federal investigators have repeatedly cited the facility for safety concerns.
According to state records obtained by the Associated Press, between 2010 and 2014, employees reported more than 700 injuries. More than half of those were caused by violent patient assaults.
A workplace inspection this week revealed patients had access to items "that could be used as weapons," and hat they often weren't "scanned for contraband."
For now, Garver is being held in county jail. It's unclear if he'll be sent back to the hospital.
"It's my hope that this time, the Department of Corrections in the state of Washington find a way to make sure this dangerous criminal does not escape again," Knezovich said.