At Bartlett’s Village Board meeting Nov. 17, Village President Mike Kelly expressed his concerns about the patient who escaped from Elgin Mental Health Center in September.
At about 6 p.m. Sept. 19, Bartlett police found escapee Maikobi Burks trying to open the door of a home on the 700 block of James Drive in Bartlett. Burks previously had been found not guilty in a triple homicide by reason of insanity.
Kelly said since then, many residents have expressed concern at how Burks was able to leave the facility and why the Bartlett police were not informed immediately. Of additional concern, Kelly said Bartlett Elementary School is nearby.
At the Nov. 17 board meeting, Police Chief Dan Palmer said he has met with officials at the center, but still is awaiting a written report from them.
“If they do as they told me,” he said. “I’m optimistic it won’t happen again.”
“When a person ... can walk out and hop on the train to our town, and the person has been locked up for being criminally insane, that is a great concern here,” Kelly said. “He can get off the train right in the middle of downtown.” (The mental-health center is within walking distance to the Elgin train station, and Bartlertt is the next stop.)
Upon finding Burks, police offered him a ride to the Bartlett train station and drove him there, before receiving information from Elgin Mental Health Center that he was an escaped patient, according to Sgt. Geoffrey Pretkelis.
Elgin Mental Health Center didn’t notice the patient had escaped until about 7 p.m. after checking the premises during a shift change, said Illinois Department of Human Services spokeswoman Marielle Sainvilus.
Bartlett police then picked Burks back up from the train station, put him into custody and returned him to the Elgin Mental Health Center at about 9 p.m.
The patient obtained a key in order to escape from the center, according to Sainvilus.
“This is a very rare situation,” Sainvilus said in September. “It’s not like he just walked out.”
Sainvilus said the facility has since put additional security measures in place to prevent this from ever happening again.
“Staff have been retrained on safety procedures,” she said. “Key control, security and safety duties, especially around the perimeter.”
In addition to the retraining, security guards now check gates, fencing and lining around the facility’s perimeter three times a day on foot. Previously, she said guards had only driven by to make sure the premises were secure and efficient. Also, buzzers have been added on each door to notify employees when they are opened.
“Keys are now locked in a more secure metal box attached to the wall,” Sainvilus said. “Before everyone had access to the keys, staff and nurses, but now only security officers do.”
Sainvilus said after staff realized Burks had escaped, they followed procedure.
“When the incident first occurred, we told Elgin police immediately,” Sainvilus said. “They notified neighboring police and any local law enforcement.”
Since the incident, Sainvilus confirmed Burks has been permanently moved to a more secure facility. She said there have been only three escapees since the facility opened in 1999 — a comment Kelly refers to as “ridiculous.”
“This is three too many,” he said. “It’s not people charged with pick-pocketing. It’s serious stuff; it’s people’s lives.
“There are residents in Bartlett who have lost family members by those that are now housed in
Elgin Mental Health Center,” Kelly said. “And they are living less than 5 miles from the Bartlett train station.”
