Airway Heights police locate escaped Eastern State Hospital patient

An Eastern State Hospital patient who was arrested Wednesday after walking away from the psychiatric facility had been charged with escaping from custody in the past, court documents show.

An Airway Heights Police officer located Silas W. Finley, 21, on Wednesday night. He was transported and booked into the Spokane County Jail, according to a news release from the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

Finley was charged with suspicion of third-degree escape, according to the jail roster. Tyler Hemstreet, spokesperson for the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, said in an email an escape from the state hospital generally would not change the status of the patient’s civil commitment.

Finley was a civil commitment patient with a history of self-harm, mental disorders and substance abuse. He may have posed a threat to himself or others, the sheriff’s office said.

Hospital staff reported Finley had left the campus in Medical Lake around 6:40 p.m. Tuesday, the sheriff’s office said. Hemstreet said he could not discuss how Finley escaped because of the ongoing investigation.

Finley’s stay at the hospital stemmed from a December incident in which he was struck by a car and allegedly assaulted an emergency room employee who was treating him, according to court documents.

Court records indicate Finley and a woman were struck by the car Dec. 15 on East Euclid Avenue near Thor Street in northeast Spokane. A domestic violence no-contact order protects the woman from Finley.

Finley was treated at MultiCare Deaconess Hospital for his injuries after the crash.

An officer wrote in documents that Finley leapt from an emergency room bed at Deaconess, broke through the secured doors and ran before police caught him. Finley was brought back to the emergency room where he allegedly elbowed an emergency room technician in the face while she was trying to provide care.

Finley was arrested in that incident on suspicion of a court order violation, third-degree escape, obstructing, resisting arrest and third-degree assault, documents say. The court dismissed the case and committed Finley to the state hospital.