Man with long history of mental illness charged with kicking officers
Staff report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Peter John Clark, Jr., 41, was arrested Friday night and charged with trespassing, battery on an officer, and two counts of resisting an officer with violence.
At about 8:25 p.m. Friday night, an Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputy responded to a trespassing call from Majestic Oaks. The security guard told the deputy that Clark had previously been trespassed from the property but had returned and was confrontational.
The deputy reported that Clark was aggressive, shouting obscenities toward him and the security guard. The deputy asked Clark to leave several times, but Clark reportedly responded with obscenities.
Several deputies tried to arrest Clark, but he resisted, and several attempts at using a taser were ineffective. Clark allegedly kicked one deputy in the stomach and continued kicking him while deputies attempted to detain him.
Clark has an extensive criminal history in Alachua County and was first declared mentally incompetent to stand trial in 2001. He has five felony convictions (two violent). He has served one state prison term for home invasion and was released in 2021. Charges in eight arrests since 2021 have been dropped, mostly for petit theft and trespassing. He was arrested in July for burglarizing a vacant apartment in Holly Heights; bail was initially set at $50,000, but after 40 days passed without the filing of formal charges, he was ordered released on his own recognizance on August 24. He was arrested again on August 29 after allegedly threatening a woman with a knife in Holly Heights. The charge in that case was dropped 11 days later.
A September 2022 letter from a Department of Children and Families attorney to a local judge stated that Clark is “not restorable to competency” and said that the State should either release him or initiate proceedings to commit him to a mental hospital. A competency hearing was held in April 2023, and Judge David Kreider ordered Clark released on his own recognizance with requirements to refrain from breaking any laws and stay in contact with his attorney. The release form included options for special conditions such as mental health treatment, but none of those were selected.
Bail information is unavailable on weekends.
Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
“The State should either release him or initiate proceedings to commit him to a mental hospital. A competency hearing was held in April 2023, and Judge David Kreider ordered Clark released on his own recognizance with requirements to refrain from breaking any laws and stay in contact with his attorney.” That’s really worked out well hasn’t it? Wonder how people would feel if he would have killed the officer he was kicking?
As for all the naysayers out there, maybe you should step up and volunteer to take him in. Better yet, encourage Poe or Ward to take him in and provide food and shelter.
Sadly you can’t force the state to take someone if there are no openings available. That is why a lot of these individuals are released if they are not restorable.
Restorable? Sounds like something a person does with an old piece of furniture or an antique automobile.
If he is not “restorable to competency” in an outpatient setting, he should be committed to NFETC or FEFSH. Period. Allowing him to run rampant on the street is neither safe for the general public nor humane treatment for him. Florida should be opening up more long-term mental health facilities, not shutting them down. We are the fourth worst in the nation for mental healthcare.
https://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2023/05/09/mental-health-rankings#:~:text=Forbes%20Advisor%20last%20week%20released,and%20Texas%20receiving%20the%20worst.
I agree with that we need a lot more mental health facilities, one on every corner would be good.
Another troubled soul…..lately too many to count.
It’s time to put him in a psych unit or prison before he hurts someone or messes with the wrong person and they take matters into their own hands then his family will be upset wanting to sue someone why don’t his family go to a judge and have him committed
Why the he** is releasing someone who is “not restorable” an option? How about keep them locked up for life.
He’ll be back out in a week.
We need to contract with Haiti to take people like this. Pay them $5.00 each to warehouse them there.
They should have knocked some sense into him while he was attacking officers.