JAMES CITY COUNTY, Va. — Authorities now say one of two convicted felons who escaped from a Virginia psychiatric hospital on Easter Sunday has been taken into custody.
Officials at Eastern State Hospital in James City County called troopers earlier in the day to alert them that patients Austin Preston Leigh, 31, and Bryant Marcus Wilkerson, 29, had escaped from the facility, according to the report. sergeant. Michelle Anaya with the Virginia State Police.
Anaya said Leigh, who had outstanding drug-related arrest warrants in Chesapeake, was taken into custody by Chesapeake police at 5:45 p.m.
Leigh told police that she did not know Wilkerson or where he might be.
He is being held without bond in the Chesapeake City Jail.
“State and local police departments are still actively searching for Wilkerson and are still seeking the public’s help on any information leading to his capture,” Anaya wrote.
Virginia State Police
Wilkerson is wanted for a felony probation violation and also has a warrant for his arrest for escaping from a mental facility.
Anaya previously said both men were considered armed and dangerous.
Eastern State Hospital, which is located about 45 minutes southeast of Richmond, is the first psychiatric hospital in the country and dates back to 1773. It is one of five state-run psychiatric hospitals in the Commonwealth.
Last month a man escaped from the Central State Hospital in Dinwiddie County for the second time in less than three years. Central State, which opened in 1870, was the first psychiatric institution in the US for African Americans. That hospital was integrated in 1968 and today houses the state’s only maximum-security mental health unit, according to the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services website.
If you have seen Wilkerson or have information on his whereabouts, please call the Virginia State Police at 757-424-6800, 77 on your cell phone, or email officers at [email protected].
This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email [email protected] to submit a tip.
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