LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Authorities in Little Rock have launched a manhunt following the escape of a patient accused of rape from a state psychiatric hospital.
The Arkansas State Hospital Police Department said James Barrett, 34, escaped from the psychiatric inpatient facility sometime Saturday evening.
Barrett was at the hospital for evaluation and treatment as he awaits trial on a rape charge in Faulkner County. Court records indicate he was ordered confined to the hospital in October and an order to keep him there pending trial was entered in January. Barrett was scheduled to make a court appearance in the case on Monday.
It wasn't immediately clear how Barrett got away from the hospital.