MIDDLETOWN – A 52-year-old homeless Middletown man, who has been in and out of mental health treatment facilities, is in the Orange County Jail after he allegedly attacked a Middletown Police officer last Friday, causing injuries him.
Since January 4, Jerry Watkins has had 28 documented interactions with Middletown, Wallkill and State Police.
In this latest incident, the officer was brutally assaulted, choked, and injured. He was transported to Garnet Health Medical Center where he was treated and later released for injuries to his head, face, neck and hand. He is expected to make a full recovery.
Every time Watkins was previously arrested, he was released back on the street because of state bail reform.
Middletown Police Chief John Ewanciw said his officers are “among the best trained in the local region to respond to mental health crises and assist individuals in need.” But he said the issues involving Watkins are not a police problem.
He said individuals like Watkins “require treatment and care far beyond anything that our department can provide.” But the chief said, “unfortunately, however, our agency appears to be the only line of defense when Mr. Watkins experiences a mental breakdown, and our options for a lasting solution are extremely limited.”
Police officers are being “unfairly placed in this predicament because of the abject failures of our state leaders in addressing the limitations of bail reform and our mental health facilities,” Ewanciw said.
Watkins was charged in this latest incident with strangulation, two counts of assault, menacing, resisting arrest, and criminal mischief.
Watkins’ criminal history shows he has been arrested 18 times, including seven felony arrests, three of which resulted in felony convictions.
He currently has nine open cases, six of which originated since January 5.
Since the beginning of the year, he spit on a nurse practitioner inside the hospital, assaulted a fellow patient at a mental health treatment center. He was transported to Garnet or Bon Secours Community Hospital for evaluation and almost immediately released back on the street, police said.
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