Escaped PDC patient found safe, returned to facility

The Porterville Developmental Center patient who disappeared July 19 from the center’s Secure Treatment Program was found Monday evening in Long Beach.

The man, whose name has been withheld in compliance with confidentiality laws, was found — reportedly loitering — around 11:30 p.m. by Long Beach police officers.

“The Long Beach Police Department found him and then he was picked up from there and relocated by our sister facility Fairview Developmental Center in Costa Mesa,” PDC Executive Secretary Evonne Gibson said today. “He was unharmed, and our physicians conducted a complete physical and he was found to be in good health. He will continue to be a resident here.”

The man, who is about 19 or 20 years old, reportedly did not pose a real threat to the community, but rather to himself. In addition to his complete physical, the patient has been seen by a psychologist and appears to be “doing fine.”

Executive Director John Sawyer said because of medications, the patient may have been more a danger to himself than to others.

“I’m very glad that he is back in custody,” Sawyer said. “Now my job is centered on restoring community trust and confidence. The best way to do that is by tightening up our security to prevent a reoccurrence. It took a long time to get their trust, now we have to get it back.”

Sawyer is also working in concert with the Porterville Police Department in the effort to rebuild trust.

Strategies to regain trust include conducting monthly tests with the system used to notify the approximately 105 people on the list to be notified in the event of a security breach by a patient. The test will be conducted at 1:30 p.m. on the second Thursdays of each month to make sure the communication system works properly.

With the latest incident, the automated system reportedly called some people and skipped others.

In the initial steps to regain community trust, Sawyer last week met with some of PDC’s neighbors. The discussion revolved around neighbors not being notified about the escaped patient in a timely manner — and how to resolve the issue.

Neighbor Judy Shoopman was among those concerned and met with Sawyer along with Steve Drumwright and Bill Bennett. Among Shoopman’s concerns was the time it took for her to receive notification about the escape. A friend of hers, she said, was notified at approximately 12:30 p.m. She was notified about the breakout at around 3 a.m.

Shoopman acknowledged that lack of effective communication between PDC and its neighbors may have taken place because of faulty equipment.

To that end, the meeting was reassuring to Shoopman, who has been a neighbor since 1989.

“I felt like [John Sawyer] was upright, honest with us, that he was really trying to make us feel at ease about the situation,” Shoopman said. “We had questions and he answered what he could. We have always had community problems with PDC, but I feel like this director seems to be handling things better than those in the past.”

Sawyer said some staff members the young man is closest to, those he is most comfortable with, are asking questions in order to find out how he managed to escape. He said that information will help in revamping security measures.

-- Contact Anita Stackhouse-Hite at 784-5000, Ext. 1043, or astackhouse-hite@portervillerecorder.com.