Cops capture man who escaped mental hospital while fully shackled

Police have arrested an attempted murder suspect who escaped an Oregon mental hospital on Wednesday — despite being fully shackled — after he was found in a muddy pond where he had reportedly been stuck for over 12 hours.

Christopher Pray was “stuck in the mud, approximately 75 feet from firm ground, and was buried up to their armpits,” Oregon State Police said, adding that it took the use of ropes and roughly an hour to dislodge him from the muck.

Emergency crews located Pray in Portland Friday morning after receiving a call about a possible dead body in the pond. He was cleaned off and taken to a local hospital where he allegedly gave a false name, but hospital personnel recognized him as the escaped patient and called the police.

The 39-year-old managed to escape Wednesday evening while returning from receiving treatment outside the facility. He then stole the Oregon State Hospital van in which he was being transported.

Pray reportedly injured a hospital worker in the process, although it’s unclear how he was able to overcome being “fully restrained with leg shackles, a belly chain, handcuffs and a restraint connecting all three together.” Police said he was able to steal the van by sliding into the driver’s seat while the driver was temporarily outside the vehicle.

Pray was originally transferred to the Oregon State Hospital in Salem after he was ruled unfit to stand trial in Multnomah County Circuit Court near Portland, according to court documents.

He was facing multiple charges, including attempted murder, assault, robbery and felon in possession of a firearm.

The pond where Pray was found is about 56 miles north of the Oregon State Hospital. It’s unclear how he made it that far.

With News Wire Services