Suspect in attacks has known mental health issues

Aug. 22--BLOOMINGTON -- With a long history of mental health issues, the suspect in Wednesday's attacks on three people in downtown Bloomington illustrates what can happen when services and housing for mentally ill are in short supply, Bloomington Mayor Tari Renner said Friday.

"The situation shows the incredible inadequacies of mental health facilities for our community. It illustrates the need for us to do more than lock people up and push them back on the streets. This demonstrates a new urgency for change," Renner said of the attacks that left two men with stab wounds and a third with minor injuries.

Jason Hopkins, 35, is charged with attempted murder and aggravated battery in connection with attacks on a Pantagraph employee who was working outside the business, a German tourist standing a block away and a McLean County Museum of History volunteer, who was knocked down on a sidewalk. The Pantagraph worker remains hospitalized.

The incident follows a request from the McLean County Board for the Bloomington and Normal city councils to consider more dollars to expand mental health services. The board has spent two years gathering data and developing a plan to address flaws with housing for mentally ill inmates and gaps in community services.

Public Defender Carla Barnes said Friday she will seek an evaluation of Hopkins' mental fitness as soon as his Aug. 28 arraignment.

Such a review was conducted in a 2000 felony case filed against Hopkins involving the theft of food and breaking a bottle inside a store.

At the time, Hopkins was deemed unfit to stand trial and sent to a Springfield mental health facility. After about 200 days, he was released in February 2004 and charges were dismissed because the hospital stay could not, by law, exceed a potential sentence on the charges.

James Mendoline lived next door to Hopkins in the 800 block of West Washington Street and saw symptoms of Hopkins' mental health issues.

"He spent a lot of time alone and I'd see him on the porch, sometimes talking to himself. I felt sorry for him. He's got a lot of scars, I can tell you that," said Mendoline, adding he knew Hopkins was receiving services at the Center for Human Services.

Citing client confidentiality, CHS could not confirm if Hopkins received services.

In May, Satanarayana Reddy was working behind the counter at West Market Grocery when Hopkins allegedly took a swing at him as he ran from the store with four bottles of wine without paying for them.

"He behaved weird and made me think he was going to do something," said Reddy. Retail theft and aggravated battery charges are pending against Hopkins in that case.

On previous visits to the store, Hopkins tried to get others to buy things for him, said Reddy, adding, "He looked frustrated, like he had a psychological disorder."

Community help

Signs that a person may be headed toward a crisis often are noticed in advance by others, said Karen Zangerle, executive director of PATH (Providing Access to Help.)

A phone call to PATH can help avert a crisis, said Zergerle, noting her agency has not received calls related to Hopkins in the year that crisis response records have been maintained.

Identifying a crisis "is crucial to getting a person into the system for help," she said.

Violent outbursts similar to the claims against Hopkins are unusual as mentally ill people are more likely to be victims and not perpetrators of crime, said Zangerle.

Matt Burgess, chief operating officer with Home Sweet Home Ministries, said this week's incident "highlights the need for community -- even when people have their own place. If they are living in isolation, it's not good for their mental health."

Segments of the support network of friends and family apparently were missing for Hopkins. His mother has been hospitalized since she was found unfit to stand trial on arson charges in March. Her son and another man are listed as victims in the alleged arson that involved an apartment in the same building where Hopkins resided.

Hopkins was sentenced to five years in prison for a 2005 arson at his apartment in a CHS transitional housing project. He also was ordered to pay the mental health agency $3,200 for carpet damaged in the fire.

Follow Edith Brady-Lunny on Twitter: @pg_blunny

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