YORBA LINDA : Hospital Procedure Under Investigation

City officials are investigating whether a local psychiatric hospital has violated city code by accepting patients brought in by police officers for involuntary admissions.

The recent escape from Charter Hospital of a patient who proceeded to vandalize several nearby businesses has residents alarmed. The 37-year-old man was taken involuntarily to the facility after Fullerton officers determined he was a danger to himself and others.

About 6 p.m. Jan. 24, he broke through a glass door, and with a 27-year-old woman, left the hospital, Capt. Jim Winder said. Brea police found the pair about 7 a.m. the next day when police received a call about a man breaking windows on Main Street.

“He did forcibly resist the officers’ efforts to detain him,” Winder said. “It took seven officers to overcome the guy.”

Residents who live near the hospital said the escape is what they feared when Charter Behavioral Health Systems of Southern California last year opened the Yorba Hills facility on Bastanchury Road at Prospect Avenue.

“This was a rude reminder of why we were opposed to Charter buying the facility,” said Malcolm McDougall, who lives north of the hospital. “It has (become) a holding site for persons who are a danger to themselves and others.”

Patients in the hospital’s locked facility are kept for a 72-hour evaluation period, spokeswoman Sandra Sellani said. It is used by officers from Fullerton, Brea, Yorba Linda and Placentia.

It could not be learned how many people are brought there by police for involuntary detention, but Brea’s Winder said his officers bring a patient to Charter “once every week or two.”

The unit can hold up to 10 patients and is usually about half full, Sellani said.

The incident prompted city officials to research the hospital’s permit to determine if it is allowed to accept involuntary patients. A report on the findings is expected to be presented at the City Council meeting Feb. 21.