One of two men who escaped from Western State Hospital reportedly got on a Greyhound bus Wednesday night headed for Spokane.
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Garver, on supervision with the Department of Corrections, was arrested for first-degree murder in 2013 and found not competent to stand trial.
Anthony Garver, 28, and Mark Adams, 58, fled on Wednesday evening from Western State Hospital in the city of Lakewood, about 40 miles south of Seattle, Lakewood Police said in a statement.
Lawler, the Lakewood police spokesman, said Garver has ties to Spokane. “He is on his way back to Lakewood to be interviewed by detectives”.
Adams was arrested for second-degree assault/domestic violence in 2014.
The escape is the latest in a litany of problems at the 800-bed hospital, south of Tacoma.
Garver arrived at Western State after being accused of tying 20-year-old Phillipa Evans-Lopez to a bed in her Lake Stevens home, stabbing her in the chest 24 times and cutting her throat. He is 5-foot-8 and weighs 250 pounds with brown, curly hair and a beard, authorities said.
The only solid tip police have received so far in their manhunt is a possible sighting by a bus driver, Lakewood police Lt. Chris Lawler said. According to the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, Garver and Evans-Lopez were seen together in the days leading up to her death. And both were being treated for mental illnesses under court commitment out of Snohomish County.
Officials are conducting a safety review of the hospital and will bring in outside experts to help, Reyes said.
Lawler said Adams was caught when he was recognized and police detained him. We did confirm Mark Alexander Adams got on a bus from Lakewood to the Federal Way Transit Center. Adams expressed interest in the Route 574 bus to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the driver told police.
A search for the two men is under way, police said. He also goes by the alias Deryk Garver. Prior to the escape, Garver was wearing a brown faded sweatshirt and orange jail-issued flip flops. Like Garver, he was also found not competent to stand trial.
The man had been admitted to the mental hospital for a 90-day civil commitment after he set fire to his mental health caseworker’s vehicle.
Anyone who sees Garver should not attempt to contact him and call 911.
USA regulators have repeatedly cited Western State Hospital over safety concerns and threatened to cut millions in federal funding.
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The men were in a locked ward at the psychiatric facility when they worked to loosen bolts on a window in their room so they could escape.
