LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — An arrest warrant has been issued for a psychologist accused of taking a patient from the Arkansas State Hospital without permission.
In court records filed Wednesday, the hospital’s police chief alleges 41-year-old Michelle Messer aided an unauthorized departure, a misdemeanor. The agency has said she took 46-year-old Cory Chapin from the hospital Tuesday.
Chapin was found innocent by reason of mental disease or defect after being accused of attempted kidnapping and other charges in 2014. He said God had told him to kidnap a woman who had cut his hair. A doctor said Chapin, without treatment, posed a “moderate risk” for violence.
Chapin had escaped before, leaving Arkansas in 2016 while on a 48-hour leave. He was found in Las Vegas in 2017.
The agency says it will fire Messer.
