Lakewood neighbors voice concern over problems at psychiatric hospital
LAKEWOOD, Wash. – Officials at Western State Hospital said they are taking steps to make sure another escape doesn’t happen again.
But now the people living nearby the hospital wonder why it took nearly 12 hours for them to be alerted by local police.
The Lakewood Police Department said it sent out reverse 911 calls around 6:30 a.m. Thursday to everyone in the immediate area. But that was nearly 12 hours after two men -- murder suspect Anthony Garver and Mark Adams -- escaped the facility Wednesday night.
“As you can see, my kids are here today at the house instead at the park,” said neighbor Charles Sobolewski.
Sobolewski lives about a quarter mile from Western State Hospital. After Wednesday’s escape, he is worried his kids could have crossed paths with a murder suspect while they played at a nearby park.
“She’s 14 and she has her pet poodle; that’s like her right arm,” he said, “I’m concerned about her being over there a lot.”
Police said Adams and Garver were last seen at Western State at 6 p.m. Wednesday, but by 6:45 p.m. hospital staff discovered they were missing. Police believe they escaped through a window in their room.
“Common sense would tell me that as soon as someone breaks in there that there should be an alarm,” said Sobolewski.
But there was no alarm and Western State didn’t call police until nearly an hour after the patients were discovered missing. By then the escaped men boarded Pierce County busses. Police arrested Adams in Des Moines on Thursday morning but Garver was still on the run.
Surveillance cameras recorded Garver in Seattle at 8:50 p.m. buying a bus ticket to Spokane but police didn’t send out alerts to local media until after 10 p.m. By 11:45 p.m. Garver’s bus left Seattle.
The suspects had been on the loose for nearly 12 hours before neighbors were alerted by reverse 911 calls.
“This is just another string of very bad incidents of happening. I just wonder what it takes to fire somebody and take control of Western State Hospital,” said state Sen. Mark Miloscia, R-Federal Way.
Miloscia has been critical of Western State’s mismanagement. He said the hospital has repeatedly failed audits and now the facility is in danger of losing federal dollars. In turn, the hospital has complained that its funding is not adequate.
“Clearly nobody is managing Western State Hospital,”Miloscia said. “Clearly the leadership team the governor has in place is failing him and failing the people of Washington state.”
It was discovered that a third patient walked away during an escorted visit on Wednesday, but that patient had ground privileges -- and police say that is a common occurrence. Sobolewski said his family should have been alerted right away.
“Something happens like that, it should absolutely be broadcasted immediately,” he said.
Police are also looking for that patient.