The Austin State Hospital, the oldest psychiatric hospital in the state, continues to leave residents living nearby frightened and concerned as patient escapes increase in frequency, some of whom have violent histories.
Located on Guadalupe Street about three miles from downtown Austin, patients don’t have to journey far if they wish to escape, as public transportation is available just outside the hospital’s faulty fencing.
The latest incident to strike worrying residents of Hyde Park, a neighborhood adjacent to the state hospital, involves an accused serial arsonist who reportedly escaped the facility during a food delivery.
Arsonist on the loose
Kirill Belchenko, 28, who allegedly started a fire inside a Cedar Park bank in May 2014, was able to leave the Austin State Hospital when a person came to the door to deliver food, reports KXAN News. His escape occurred at around 3:00p.m. on Saturday, April 24, and he is still at large.
“We’re very concerned with crime and safety in our neighborhood,” Kathy Lawrence told KXAN News. Lawrence, the vice president of the Hyde Park Neighborhood Association, hopes they locate Belchenko soon.
“They’re just blocks away from our neighborhood and if there is someone who is dangerous or who has a history of being dangerous that’s always a concern,” she said.
“I think it’s a little bit disconcerting that something like this could just happen from a simple food delivery and the fact that we aren’t hearing about it as soon as it happens, I think that’s a little worrisome,” said resident Kristen Remeza, a member of the Hyde Park Neighborhood Associations’ crime and safety committee.
In 2014, Belchenko walked into the Lone Star Bank wearing a mini skirt. Surveillance footage shows him firing a pellet gun at the bank’s front door. Once inside, he “poured liquid on the carpet and lit it on fire,” KXAN News reported in December; Belchenko was arrested that same month for harassment.
While in jail, Belchenko confessed to starting a fire at the bank, ultimately causing $140,000 in damages. He confessed to other arson cases as well, including a fire he started at Cedar Park Body and Frame.
“It was very chilling. You come to work and your building is just charred black, it was horrifying,” Dana Snockhous, an employee of the bank said to local CBS affiliate KEYE.
Patient escapes
Belchenko’s bond was set at $150,000. The state ordered him to undergo a mental evaluation before deciding he was unfit to stand trial. Belchenko was then transferred to the Austin State Hospital to await his May 11 court date.
Belchenko is the second patient to escape the hospital in recent months. In March, John Michael Wilkinson, 55, escaped the Austin State Hospital during a medical appointment located at Seton Medical Center Austin.
Wilkinson, who has a history of mental illness marked with aggression and violence, fled on foot when a hospital van arrived to pick him up. Though accompanied by an Austin State Hospital employee, he refused to get in the vehicle and instead made a run for it.
Wilkinson was found a week later and returned to the hospital. His sister says he’s struggled with schizophrenia for decades, and that long-term use of psychiatric medications has “changed him into a violent person.” He “was never like that” previously, she added.
According to the AustinAmerican-Statesman, on several occasions, Wilkinson beat up patients and staff members, giving one person facial fractures.
The Austin State Hospital has dealt with its fair share of patient-on-patient abuse. In February, a patient reportedly tried to sexually assault a mentally disabled person in the restroom. These types of incidents are not uncommon.
Reports of sexual abuse
Over the last five years, more than 390 cases of sexual abuse were reported at the state hospital; only five of which were substantiated. A total of 2,717 cases of abuse and neglect were reported at the hospital; about 6 percent of those were substantiated, according to KXAN News.
Patient-on-patient violence soared 170 percent from 2008 to 2013, American-Statesman analysis showed. Last year, the hospital risked losing 14 percent of its annual $50 million budget due to nursing shortages and restraint violations.
Originally called the State Lunatic Asylum, the Austin State Hospital was established by the Sixth Legislature in 1856 and opened its doors in May 1861 caring for just 12 patients.
By 1945, its patient population had ballooned to more than 2,700 patients. However, it largely declined by the late 1980s due to “changes in the philosophy of treatment,” according to Texas State Historical Association.
Eventually, the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, in charge of the hospital’s operations, began caring for the majority of mentally ill patients in the Austin area and beyond.
It’s unknown how many patients are currently being housed at the state hospital. We contacted the facility to find out but were met with a disorganized system incapable of directing us as to where we could learn that information.
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