An attempted escape from a mental health treatment facility for children was thwarted after a swift response from law enforcement in a Tequesta neighborhood.
Christopher Weyandt saw the commotion Sunday afternoon.
“I saw one deputy that normally comes down the road, sped down the road. And then I heard a chopper start going and then four or five other [deputies] came down the road,” Weyandt said.
Weyandt was one of several neighbors off of SE County Line Rd. who said aerial and ground responses were typical in their community, and almost certainly centered around the same place.
“That’s when I figured, like normal, something’s happened down there. Somebody got out or whatever,” Weyandt said, referring to the SandyPines Residential Treatment Center.
The facility provides inpatient behavioral health services to children. Weyandt estimates he sees the Martin County Sheriff’s Office respond there about four or five times a year.