MOUNT VERNON, Ala. (WKRG) — Five people are facing trespassing charges for allegedly going into the old Searcy Mental Hospital in Mount Vernon. The historic site has been closed for more than a decade and has become a tempting target for self-proclaimed explorers.
Former Bay Minette Police Chief Al Tolbert now at Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office
Searcy closed in 2012, but its history goes back much further than that. It stands as one of the last remaining US Arsenals. Those were some of the first military bases in the country started by President Andrew Jackson.
This past weekend, Mount Vernon Police Chief Eric Pettway says five young adults were spotted Saturday night after dark by a veterans group on the Searcy property.
The group, Veterans for Airsoft, hosts and coordinates military simulation events for veterans and first responders. They had been holding an event on the hospital property that weekend…