Authorities are trying to find a State Hospital psychologist who took a patient from the facility without authorization Tuesday.
The Arkansas Department of Human Services said surveillance footage shows the staff member, Michelle Messer, used her access to the hospital's forensic unit to reach 46-year-old Cory Chapin, walk him out of the facility and drive off in her car about 8:20 a.m.
The State Hospital's Police Department is leading the search, and state law enforcement agencies have been advised to be on the lookout, department spokesman Marci Manley said.
Messer, a Sherwood resident, was driving a blue Mazda Grand Touring with license plate number 502RBD.
The State Hospital is at 305 S. Palm St. in Little Rock. The Human Services Department website states the hospital's 24-bed forensic service area assesses and treats patients with mental illnesses who are accused of crimes. According to the site, all people in the unit have been ordered by a court to undergo evaluation or treatment.
Court records show Chapin was acquitted of multiple charges -- including attempted kidnapping -- in 2015 by reason of mental disease or deficit.
A report filed by a psychiatrist from the State Hospital in 2015 states that Eureka Springs officers responded to Lake Leatherwood Park on Sept. 25, 2014, where Chapin was arrested after he was found with his father's vehicle as well as handcuffs, machetes and drugs.
He later told authorities that God had told him to kidnap and rape a woman who had cut his hair. The doctor noted that Chapin remains affected by bipolar disorder and that the risk assessment "indicates he is a moderate risk for future violence without treatment."
He also escaped from state custody while on a 48-hour pass with his father in 2016, according to an order revoking his conditional release. He was found in Las Vegas in October 2017 and extradited to the hospital a month later, records state.
Messer will be fired once found, the news release said.
Information for this report was contributed by The Associated Press.
Metro on 03/21/2018