A 33-year-old Palm Coast man’s mental health breakdown and subsequent arrest on Thursday highlights the depth of needs for services for people in crisis as well as the perils law enforcement and health care providers–the first line of response–face when attempting to manage the crisis, as do families. But individuals and families can turn to available help beyond court-ordered requirements.
The incident is not unusual. Law enforcement and care providers face similar situations several times a week, though this one was more pronounced, the threats more overt and the presence of weapons a graver consideration. It took place in part in Palm Coast’s W-Section Thursday afternoon, and in part at AdventHealth Palm Coast, the hospital. Eric’s (*) 57-year-old mother had called authorities to report that her son was in crisis, and that he was threatening to kill himself with a gun, in a house with numerous firearms.
Soon after Flagler County Sheriff‘s deputies arrived, they saw Eric walk down his house’s driveway, shirtless, then away from deputies, ignoring their commands to stop and talk to them. “I think I’m going to steal your car,” Eric told one of the deputies as Eric, who was not armed, walked toward the patrol car. The deputy warned him not to.
Eric turned around to face the deputy in a fighting stance, cocked his right arm and attempted to strike the deputy in the face. The deputy dodged. A struggle followed. The deputy took Eric to the ground as he continued to fight back and kick. It took a second deputy’s help to secure Eric and place him in a patrol car. A witness who watched the incident provided deputies with a corroborating statement. The deputy did not sustain any injuries.
In crisis or not, individuals quickly begin accumulating charges when they act as Eric did. At that point he already faced a felony charge of battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest with violence, even though there was no question that he would be placed under a Baker Act–which had been his family’s intention. The arresting officer had also determined that he should be taken to the hospital, “due to him possibly experiencing excited delirium.”
A Baker Act is the involuntary commitment of an individual to a mental health crisis center facility when the individual is deemed a threat to self or others. Those facilities may be either SMA Healthcare or Halifax hospital, especially if an individual has medical complications. The confinement may last up to three days for evaluation and treatment. It does not replace or negate criminal charges or subsequent confinement at the county jail, but it usually stabilizes the person and maps out a course of care to follow after the Baker Act.
Eric’s agitation only grew as he was taken to the hospital. He assured a deputy that he would break out of his handcuffs and run away, and that he would fight other deputies. Additional deputies were dispatched to the hospital as Eric told them: “Watch because this is going to be a show.” He again resisted deputies’ efforts to secure him to a hospital bed. Another struggle ensued before they managed to get him back to a patrol car once he was cleared to leave by hospital care-givers.
On the drive to the jail, Eric, who is white, leveled racist remarks at the deputy in the car, who is Asian. And he threatened him: “I’m going to come find you when this is over,” Eric said, according to his arrest report. “I swear to god. I swear on my life, I will find you.” He told the deputy he did not care how many houses he would have to search, “I will murder you.” The threat added further charges. By evening’s end, when he was booked at the jail, Eric faced two third degree felony charges and two misdemeanor, though they are likely either to be pleaded down or dismissed. He was being held on $28,000 bond and is under court order, should be be released, to comply with a series of restrictions.
Neither jail bookings nor sheriff’s staff will specify where an individual is taken for a Baker Act.
What happens next–at the crisis center, at the jail and after pre-trial release–is a series of steps that, while challenging, can address the crisis through various available means, says Jeannette Simmons, chief clinical officer at Flagler Cares, the social service coordinating agency in Palm Coast.
The crisis center will make the first assessment to determine the next level of care. “Hopefully he remains either in some facility or something like that, until that assessment can be completed, because it sounds like he needs a higher level of care and some med stabilization and figuring out what is going on with him,” Simmons.
At home, the weapons should be secured. Eric is under court order to have no possession of firearms. But that does not necessarily apply to others in the house who own the firearms, unless the Sheriff’s Office were to launch what’s called a risk protection order–invoking the sort of red-flag law that authorizes the sheriff, by court order, to seize weapons from a home where they could pose a more imminent danger. But risk-protection orders take time.
“The weapons I hope would be secured, and that would be a conversation, as a counselor at any organization–knowing that this was one of the reasons he was hospitalized–would be my question for a safe discharge home: Have the weapons been secured, and are they out of his reach. And then secondly, who is supporting the family as well, because obviously this is also traumatizing to them. So I would want to connect them with resources for counseling or any of those other details.” (Simmons commended the Sheriff’s deputy for taking Eric to the hospital first for evaluation.)
What happens once Eric is released from jail? That’s in part defined by the court’s requirement that he submits to a mental health evaluation within 10 days of release from custody. “More than likely it is probably SMA, because they are the ones who do this court ordered assessment,” Simmons said. But people in Eric’s situation are not on their own. “This is obviously a very high need, high risk case, and because it does involve the sheriff’s office, and it sounds like it involves the court, and he is more than likely at a receiving facility that is obligated to ensure he has a good discharge plan and has care coordinated, he would not just walk out of there and have to figure it out on his own.”
Flagler Cares itself is not a crisis center authorized to complete the kind of assessment people like Eric would need: the state defines precisely who may complete those assessments. But that base is covered. “What we could do and help with is we’d obviously provide the family some support if they want, some individual counseling or if they are in need of some other types of support,” Simmons said. “Maybe if he’s struggling, he doesn’t have SSI, SSDI, and he needs that, there could be some help there.” Even if certain services are not exactly what Flagler Cares can itself provide, its staff would be advocates for people like Eric, “ensuring they are connected to the right community partners and providers.”
(*) The individual’s name has been changed.
The following resources are available for individuals in crisis:
Flagler Lifeline website.
In Flagler: The Crisis Triage and Treatment Unit (CTTU) is a crisis assessment and referral service for Flagler County residents experiencing behavioral health crisis. It is located at 301 Justice Lane in the Brown & Brown Outpatient building at the Vince Carter Sanctuary in Bunnell. This program is limited to individuals escorted to the program by law enforcement between the hours of noon and midnight daily. Law enforcement is able to transport individuals to SMA to assess and determine the appropriate clinical disposition. When required and appropriate, SMA then transports the individual to a receiving facility in Volusia County.
In Daytona Beach: Stewart-Marchman Act Corporation Crisis Center
1220 Willis Avenue
Daytona Beach, FL 32114
Crisis Line: (800) 539 – 4228
Available 24 hours.
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 800/273-8255 (TALK), or use the online Lifeline Crisis Chat, both available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Flagler Cares’ Behavioral Health Counselors can assist individuals with gaining access to mental health services and substance use disorder treatment. They can also help navigate mental health coverage for most insurance plans to help find in-network providers. We also have onsite services at HEAL Recovery which offers Medication Assisted Treatment and Certified Recovery Peer Specialists. Services can be initiated by completing a request for help, calling 386-319-9483 or visiting 160 Cypress Point Parkway, B302, Palm Coast Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. All services provided by Flagler Cares are free of charge to the client.
Veterans Crisis Line: 1-800-273-8255.
People 60 and older can call the Institute on Aging’s 24-hour, toll-free Friendship Line at 800-971-0016. IOA also makes ongoing outreach calls to lonely older adults.
If you are concerned for someone else, read about warning signs here. For additional resources, see the Speaking of Suicide website.
