Mentally Ill Incarcerated with No End in Sight
My son has suffered from a low level autism (aspergers) all of his life. In his teens, (one suicide attempt at 16) which developed into depression and in his late twenties, schizophrenia. As the news widely publicised the use of anti depressants in teens caused increased suicide attempts, he chose to not use meds. His health insurance company glossed over and ignored the symptoms. Their only treatment was group therapy, and the leader threw him out of group for having his own opinion. There was zero follow up of his case. He had his first break while touring Thailand and we had to send a family member there to bring him back. As long as he stayed well rested and hydrated, he was able to maintain control. As he approached 30, the paranoia and depression intensified, but as he was an adult, we were helpless to get him help and he didn’t feel he needed it. He is very bright and a self taught computer programmer but his inability to get/keep a job frustrated his dad, who insisted he move out and start his life.
This past April, he travelled to Colorado and immediately, was stopped by police for going the wrong way down the shoulder of the freeway. The interviewing cop realized immediately that something was not right, and questioned him about being on meds (he is not). The cop recognized he had mental illness in which the police dept brag they are well versed in handling suspects, but still failed to cuff him (which would have prevented what happened next from occuring). The second cop was more interested in making gestures at passing cars than watching my son who stood passively on the side of the freeway as the cop rummaged thru his van for a long time. The voices in my son’s head told him that “these are not real cops and they are going to kill you, you need to run”. The troopers car was running, the door open, the lights flashing. Suddenly, my son ran and jumped into the car, as the door was shutting, the trooper stuck his hand into the door. Any three year old knows better than to stick their hand into a door that is being slammed shut. My son immediately opened the door to release the officer and a passing truck hit and bent the door backward keeping it from being able to close. BTW, This second cop has had ANOTHER car stolen by a suspect in the last year. My son led over 20 police cars on a up to 100mph chase on a freeway for about 30 miles before the police threw out a stop stick, my son tried to avoid it and rolled the cop car in the median. Even at 100mph, no other vehicles were involved in collisions. News stories fail to mention about the stop sticks that were used at 100mph and state that “the suspect rolled the car on his own” according to police. He then jumped out of the car and was ordered to the ground by cops which he did, probably the only reason he was not shot. I have seen the troopers car cam.
