Man arrested again nearby for assaulting childcare workers in Washington, DC

Despite her efforts to help, she said at the time, Dunkley kept falling through the cracks of the city’s mental health care system. He was accused of harassment and assault, as well as lewd acts, without being convicted once. Although he was accused of only minor offenses, he was released last month, following a familiar pattern: handcuffs, treatment at a city-run or contracted mental health facility, and discharge. This time, police say, he returned to the old neighborhood where he was accused of the assault.

When a dog walker spotted him near the daycare on Florida Avenue NW in late May, everyone “paniced again,” says La Shada Ham-Campbell, founder of Petit Scholars. Police arrested Dunkley for violating an order to stay away from the area, but he was quickly returned to the same system that had just released him, in a process partially shielded from public view.

His earlier case attracted attention because it highlighted the city’s difficulties in dealing with a mentally ill man who allegedly commits repeated crimes. It ultimately led to a proposal by a D.C. council member to change public crisis care for mental illness. Some residents and others involved in the system say his recent arrest shows how much work still needs to be done.

Dunkley could not be held pending trial because the charges against him in connection with the Oct. 23 attack were minor. Police allege he flew into a rage when a teacher would not give him money. According to court records, he punched one teacher in the nose until it bloodied, hit another teacher on the head, exposed himself and committed a lewd act in front of two dozen toddlers who had interrupted their daily walk to sit on a small stone wall, drink water and sing songs. All of this happened at a time when the city was suffering from a rise in shootings, car thefts and robberies, and this case seemed to cross another threshold of the violence that city residents have endured.

His lawyer did not respond to an interview request. Neither did his sister, who initially fought to gain access to information about Dunkley’s care before she was granted legal guardianship. For Ham-Campbell, who relied on a council member to keep her updated on Dunkley’s status as his case progressed, his release and re-arrest showed that the system has failed the people it is designed to help and the residents it is designed to protect.

While she said Dunkley needs to have some level of privacy, she praised efforts to make system-level changes, such as a bill by D.C. Councilwoman Christina Henderson (I-At Large) to extend the time a person in a mental health crisis can be involuntarily held for emergency observation from seven to 15 days to give medical staff more time to conduct an assessment.

“This is one individual in one neighborhood,” Ham-Campbell said. “Unfortunately, there are probably Dunkleys in many neighborhoods. What do we do with them? That is the question.”

Simon Fuerstenberg, the executive director of the Washington-based Consumer Advocate Network, which advocates for people with mental health issues, said it can be difficult to strike a balance between patient rights and public safety. He said the goal of the Department of Behavioral Health should be to “prepare patients for release” by providing them with the help they need to avoid being incarcerated, but without them posing a threat to citizens.

“Ultimately, the system is not adequately serving the people who need it most,” said Fürstenberg, adding that the system needs more staff, more transparency and more oversight.

In a statement, the Department of Behavioral Health said the help is provided “in the least restrictive environment possible.” Officials said the agency’s psychiatrists can recommend to judges that a person be treated at Saint Elizabeths Hospital and that after discharge, treatment be continued with “intensive services, assisted living and regular assessments to support the resident’s sustained recovery and the well-being of the entire community.”

According to court records, authorities held Dunkley for months after his Oct. 23 arrest for mental health monitoring and held periodic detention hearings. A Washington Post reporter attempted to attend one of those hearings on April 25.

The hearing The hearing was held under the auspices of the Mental Health Commission. The psychiatrists were appointed by the presiding judge and presided over by a judge. The judge was tasked with determining treatment options for psychiatric patients under court-ordered supervision. Judge Janet E. Albert of the Superior Court of the District of DC presided over the hearing, which was attended by two psychiatrists.

Dunkley was represented by an attorney from the Public Defender Service. His sister was also present. An attorney from the DC Office of the Attorney General represented the Department of Behavioral Health. Both attorneys objected to the presence of a reporter and requested that the hearing be closed to the public.

Michael Vlcek of the Attorney General’s Office argued that “we are providing confidential information about the release.” He said he was concerned that the public might learn the date of Dunkley’s release and where he might live, which could cause problems for him because of the publicity of the case.

Albert ordered the hearing closed, and its outcome was not announced until the May 3 hearing in Dunkley’s criminal case, which noted his impending release on May 6. It is not clear what Dunkley’s treatment plan was after his release from Saint Elizabeths or how the decision to release him came about. Court records show only that he was treated as an outpatient.

Authorities said he could not be detained while awaiting trial after his release from the hospital because none of the charges against him were serious crimes. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment, citing a policy not to discuss charging decisions. Prosecutors wrote in a court document that they would seek to detain Dunkley “if the government presents sufficient evidence to charge him with a violent or dangerous crime,” as required by DC law.

Court records show that prosecutors asked a judge last year to impose several conditions on his release, including barring Dunkley from entering a roughly 24-block area of ​​Bloomingdale, placing him in pretrial detention and requiring him to wear a GPS tracking device.

The conditions are “necessary to adequately ensure the safety of the community in the event of the defendant’s release,” wrote Assistant U.S. Attorney Dana M. Joseph, pointing out that the alleged offenses “are by far at the most serious end of the scale of offenses” due to their arbitrary and repeated nature.

A judge issued a ban on entry and residence restrictions, but did not issue the GPS device.