Florida Keys inmate caught after escaping mental health facility
A Monroe County jail inmate hopped the fence Friday of a Florida Keys mental health facility where he was being held for evaluation.
Samuel Bolongaita, 23, was arrested in early January on burglary and theft charges in Key West. He was sent to the Guidance Clinic in Marathon, where a magistrate Thursday recommended he be sent to a state hospital for involuntary treatment, a clinic staffer told sheriff’s office deputies, according to an incident report.
Around 11:30 a.m. Friday, Bolongaita was sitting in a chair inside a fenced-in area outside the clinic located at 41st Street. A clinic employee supervising patients watched Bolongaita stand up, climb the fence and run toward U.S. 1, according to the report.
State, local and federal law enforcement responded to news of his escape, said Adam Linhardt, sheriff’s office spokesman.
An officer with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission saw Bolongaita by the local American Legion post, but he kept running. The FWC officer caught up to him at the Home Depot, less than half a mile north, and was able to subdue him with the help of a dog from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Linhardt said.
In total, Bolongaita was gone for about an hour before he was arrested, Linhardt said. He was re-arrested on a felony escape charge, according to the arrest report.
Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay said the incident highlighted the cooperation between law enforcement agencies that often occurs in the Keys.
“I know I often sound like a broken record on this point, but we all have to work together and I couldn’t be prouder of how our law enforcement partners did just that today,” Ramsay said in a statement. “Together, we worked as a team, and as a result, we were able to make a quick arrest.”
