Man Back In Hospital After ‘Great Big Mess’

An escaped psychiatric patient led police on a trail that included a house fire and a freshly dug grave.

The 26-year-old Yakima man is back at Memorial Hospital’s psychiatric unit after walking away from the facility Friday evening. His name was not released.

To catch him, police followed a trail a law officer called “one great big mess.”

At 9 a.m. Saturday, police were called to an argument between the patient and a family member. When officers arrived, the patient had left in his relative’s car.

Two hours later, a neighbor reported the house fire. Once investigators got inside, they found the house had been vandalized, police said.

Homeowner Mike Borgman told investigators who he thought was responsible.

“That person turned out to be the same person involved in the family fight,” Yakima police Lt. Roy Willson said. “Evidently, he didn’t get along with someone at the house.”

The patient’s family told police that he might go to West Hills Cemetery to visit his father’s gravesite.

Officers searched the cemetery and found the patient hiding in an open grave, the police report said.

Fire investigators are trying to determine if the house fire was set or was accidentally caused by the vandalism. No one was injured in the blaze, which destroyed the house and two-car garage, fire officials said.