By Paris Rain, Fox23 News
ROGERS COUNTY, Okla. — The Rogers County sheriff is raising concerns about public safety after a second patient ran away from a Claremore mental health facility in a matter of weeks, calling the situation a potential threat to nearby residents.
Sheriff Scott Walton said deputies were dispatched to the GRAND Mental Health Claremore Horizons residential care facility around 8:00 p.m. on Dec. 23 after a staff member reported a patient had become violent.
“I don’t have the ability to shut Grand Horizons down today or close the doors,” said Sheriff Walton. “I think it poses a huge threat to those surrounding houses there.”
According to a probable cause affidavit, members of the facility’s staff told deputies the patient appeared to be acting outside of his normal baseline behavior.
The affidavit stated the man struck a worker in the face and chest during a blood pressure check before picking up and tossing a 20-pound dumbbell through a window, climbing through it and running into a nearby wooded area.
Walton said deputies used a drone to locate the patient, who was bleeding from cuts he’d sustained while climbing through the broken glass.
“We were able to locate him with our drone. He ignored commands to comply and we had to deploy a beanbag to take him into custody.”
Deputies said the patient was injured, confrontational and wandering dangerously close to nearby homes and Highway 88 before he was detained by law enforcement.
“If we wouldn’t have found him, he probably would have bled to death. He goes out in the community with law-abiding citizens. We don’t know what’s running through his mind, but he’s already shown violence toward workers at that location.”
The patient was taken to a Tulsa hospital for treatment before being booked into the Rogers County Jail on additional charges, according to the sheriff’s office.
Walton said the facility, which is not a secure lockdown center, needs additional safety measures to prevent similar incidents.
“I can certainly say as a warning to people that live in that area and the motoring public that goes by there every day, if nothing changes, poor decisions are going to repeat the results we’ve seen so far.”
Walton suggested adding fencing and increased security or changing the type of patients housed at the facility.
GRAND Mental Health provided a statement to FOX23 confirming an incident occurred, but declined to release specific details due to federal privacy laws.
Ron Brady, the Director of Public Relations at GRAND Mental Health, sent FOX23 the following statement:
“In accordance with HIPAA privacy protections, GRAND cannot provide specific details regarding any individual client or resident. We can confirm that an incident occurred at our GRAND Horizons facility on December 23. In keeping with established protocols when the situation escalated, GRAND staff immediately contacted the Rogers County Sherriff’s Office (RCSO) for assistance. RCSO responded promptly and assumed responsibility for the situation.”
GRAND Horizons operates in partnership with the Oklahoma Forensic Center (OFC) to provide housing and supportive services for individuals determined by OFC to be appropriate for lower-level care and community reintegration. Horizons is not a secure facility, and residents are not in custody; however, they are required to comply with all court-ordered conditions and facility guidelines as part of the reintegration process.
OFC was notified of the incident, and GRAND staff continue to work closely with law enforcement and state officials. As with all GRAND programs, Horizons remains committed to providing high-quality, evidence-based care while maintaining safeguards that support public safety and responsible transitions back into the community.”