A felon who escaped a Virginia mental health hospital on Easter is on the loose and believed to be “armed and dangerous.”
Bryant Wilkerson, 29, escaped from Eastern State Hospital in Williamsburg, Virginia, alongside Austin Leigh, 31, whom authorities apprehended late on Sunday.
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“State and local police departments are still actively searching for Wilkerson, and still seeking the public’s assistance in any information leading to his capture,” Virginia State Police Sgt. Michelle Anaya told WTVR.
Wilkerson is facing felony probation charges and a charge for escaping the facility. The method of his and Leigh’s escape is still under investigation, Anaya told the Washington Examiner.
Leigh was apprehended in Chesapeake, Virginia, roughly 60 miles from the mental health facility, and was unaware of Wilkerson’s whereabouts, Virginia state police said. He is being held at the Chesapeake City Jail without bond. He is facing drug-related charges and a charge for escaping the facility.
Eastern State Hospital was built in 1773, was one of the first facilities in the United States dedicated to treating the mentally ill, and remains one of the largest mental health facilities in Virginia.
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Escape from mental facilities is considered rare, legal analyst Ed Booth told WVEC. Defendants are typically held in mental health facilities when a judge determines they are unfit to stand trial or are in need of temporary rehabilitation.
“You wind up there because a judge has you evaluated as a defendant and the doctor has come back and said that this particular defendant is not competent to stand trial,” he told WVEC. “There are also people who are sent there on like temporary detention orders when someone is found that they need to be hospitalized but they’re not charged with a crime.”
