Trevor Frizzell

JOHN DAY – A 25-year-old Union County man was apprehended Monday evening by local police after escaping from Juniper Ridge Acute Care Facility, where he was being observed on a detainer from Union County Jail.

Trevor Frizzell was captured at 6:30 p.m. near the Budget 8 Motel, following a five-hour search by local and state law enforcement officers. Frizzell had broken and squeezed through a fence at the secure acute mental health facility on Ford Road.

John Day Police Chief Richard Gray said Frizzell was in Union County Jail on marijuana charges, and while there he allegedly assaulted a public safety officer which put him on post-prison supervision in 2013 according to Gray.

Frizzell was not armed at the time of his apprehension and no additional charges were filed.

Kimberly Lindsay, Executive Director of Community Counseling Solutions, the company which operates the two year-old facility, said Frizzell was admitted to the sub-acute side of the facility. She said he went out into the fenced area unsupervised, as permitted by state law, when the escape took place.

Lindsay said he didn’t jump the fence – he broke it, through a flaw in it’s design. Frizzell broke a corner of it and squeezed through. The fence was fixed the day of the incident.

Subcontractor of the fence, Boyd Britton Welding, is taking additional steps with the fence to prevent this from occurring again, at no cost to the facility. Britton reinforced the fence and will attach it to the building, which will compensate for the design flaw and give the fence a support structure.

According to Lindsay, staff at the facility became aware of Frizzell’s absence within two minutes of the escape. An employee did a sweep of the property and within three minutes after his departure Lindsay, who was on site, was notified and contacted the police. Police reached the scene within five minutes of his escape.

“How this was handled was better than textbook,” said Lindsay. “I want people to know this happened, but at the point we went from prevention and into action, our action was excellent. I am so proud of our staff.”

Employees on site and those off duty assisted in the search.

“On behalf of Juniper Ridge, we want to thank the John Day City Police, Forest Service, Sheriff’s Office and State Police for their assistance. They were great to work with,” said Lindsay.

According to Police Chief Gray, dispatchers received a call at 1:19 p.m., from Juniper Ridge staff saying that Frizzell had just escaped.

Law enforcement personnel responded, pursuing reports of sightings in the John Day area.

At 5:51 p.m., four officers responded to a report by two women that Frizzell was seen near Bare Bones and the Budget 8 Motel in John Day. At 6:28 p.m., OSP Senior Trooper Erich Timko located Frizzell and gave chase on foot.

Gray said John Day Police officers Larry Sherman and Kevin Miller, and Sheriff’s Deputy Zach Mobley responded within two minutes, and found Timko with Frizzell in handcuffs, apprehending him between the north side of the Budget 8 property and Riverside Mobile Home Park.

Frizzell was briefly held at the Grant County Jail before Union County Jail staff arrived and took custody of him.

John Bates, Medical Director of JRACC, said, “It was deemed Frizzell wasn’t required to have ongoing treatment and was sent back to jail, because it was a behavioral issue.”

Lindsay said, “We cannot guarantee it, but we will do all we can to prevent this from happening. We want everyone to be assured when it comes to the safety of the community we will take proper steps to assure we are transparent and to minimize the likelihood of this happening again at Juniper Ridge.”