Orange County’s top prosecutor is raising the alarm that 12 people, who have been in custody after being charged with serious crimes, will be released back into the community because of the lack of hospital beds in the state’s mental health system.
As all 12 criminal defendants, including a man who’s accused of murdering a stranger, suffer from mental health issues, at least some of them appear to have been treated at state mental health hospitals. Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said the defendants must be in a locked-down, state licensed facility because of their mental and criminal history while their criminal proceedings continue.
“The public should be angry, and they should be scared,” Spitzer said.
But because the county government cannot find treatment beds in proper facilities, the defendants will be released from custody.
Under California law, people who are fount to be too mentally ill to stand trial must be sent to a state hospital or secure mental health care facility. The state allows up to two years for treatment. After that, counties must either find a place to continue care or release them.
“The County of Orange – due to an apparent lack of planning and despite months of warnings has up to this point failed to find treatment beds which meet the required guidelines for placement in advance of a looming deadline,” Spitzer said in a statement.
One of the 12 people set to be released through January 2026 is Ivan Dimov, who was charged with first degree murder after allegedly using a hatchet to hack a 53-year-old man to death as he was sitting his car near a Costa Mesa apartment complex in 2016.
“It’s sickening. It’s repulsive,” said Kelli Casey, the victim’s sister. “He’s got to be locked up. I mean, he murdered somebody.”
Two other men were supposed to be released Friday, but the Orange County Health Care Agency confirmed to NBC Los Angeles that a two-week continuance was granted, postponing their release for now.
One of the men who were scheduled to be released back into their communities is Manvir Sandher, who was charged with after allegedly beat a 65-year-old neighbor in their Fountain Valley cul-de-sac in 2023, according to Spitzer.
The district attorney said Sandher was ordered to receive treatment at a state hospital in 2023 after a judge found him incompetent to stand trial.
“He is statutorily required to be released back into the community on Friday, November 7, 2025 unless the County can find him a suitable placement,” the district attorney said.
Another person, set to be on unsupervised release, starting on Friday, is Derrick Riehl. He was committed to a state hospital in 2023 after he allegedly tried to climb over a home’s fence in Newport Beach.
Authorities alleged Riehl was targeting a woman, whom he was ordered to stay away from, as he was caught with two flashlights, massage oil and a sex product.
“Time is not on our side, and with every second that ticks by is another second closer to our public safety being jeopardized,” Spitzer added.
The Orange County Board of Supervisors Vice Chair Katrina Foley told NBC Los Angeles that District Attorney Spitzer has the right to request a 90-day hold on the inmates, giving the county more time to find placements, but it’s not guaranteed.
Foley said in the last six weeks, 25 people were placed in beds.
The Orange County Health Care explained in a statement that there is a limited number of beds at eligible mental health facilities across the state often with long wait lists.
“In most cases, locked facilities are required per the court. Long-term locked treatment facilities are located throughout the state of California. All 58 counties compete for these finite beds,” the agency told NBC Los Angeles.
Although the county has 11 contracts throughout the state for long-term, locked treatment facilities, there are restrictions, according to the agency.
“While the State Hospital is also an additional option for treatment, each county has been given a cap on the number of beds that can be utilized, and the waiting list is long (years). Orange County also does not have a County Hospital,” OC Health Care said.
After District Attorney Spitzer blamed Governor Gavin Newsom and other “liberal” elected officials for a state law for their “smoke and mirror tactic to facilitate the early release of dangerous and violent criminals,” the governor’s office said Spitzer and other county leaders should “look in the mirror.”
“Orange County has received hundreds of millions of dollars in state funding for mental health treatment and homelessness services, including $31 million though voter-approved Proposition 1 to expand the capacity of behavioral health care facilities,” the governor’s office told NBCLA in a statement. “Accountability falls on the local leaders who have failed to create services with the unprecedented resources the state and California voters have provided them.”