OR FFs Free Mental Hospital Escapee Stuck in Mud

An attempted murder suspect’s wild flight from a Salem mental hospital ended ignominiously less than 36 hours later, after the man got stuck in muck, authorities say.

Portland firefighters used a rope and ladder to extricate Christopher L. Pray, 39, from a pond near North Force Avenue and Victory Boulevard at about 9 a.m. Friday. He had been trapped in six inches of mud for about 12 hours while trying to swim across the murky body of water, according to Portland Fire & Rescue.

The large pond, called Force Lake, is located between Heron Lakes Golf Club and the Portland International Raceway in North Portland. Pray was found about 75 feet from solid ground.

As firefighters pulled him from the mud, Pray offered up a fake name and was taken to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center, where sharp-eyed hospital staff noticed he resembled the escaped man. The hospital contacted Portland police officers, who arrested Pray.

Pray had been at the Oregon State Hospital for less than a day when he got into a fight with another patient around 6 p.m. Wednesday and was taken to Salem Health hospital for stitches and an x-ray, according to a court affidavit.

An unnamed state hospital employee chauffeured Pray back to the facility at 10:40 p.m. Wednesday, then climbed out of the driver’s seat to assist Pray, who was fully shackled and handcuffed in the backseat, leaving the keys in the Dodge Caravan, the affidavit says.

Pray spied the opportunity and leaped into the driver’s seat and drove off, according to the court document. Hospital staff immediately alerted authorities, they said.

Salem police officers threw down spike trips in a bid to stop the runaway van, but Pray dodged the attempt and sped south on Interstate 5, with Keizer Police and state troopers in hot pursuit, officials said. The chase was soon called off due to the public-safety risk.

Capt. Kyle Kennedy, a state police spokesperson, dubbed Pray “extremely dangerous” in a statement released to the press shortly before noon on Thursday. He defended the 12-hour delay in public notification, saying troopers weren’t immediately aware of the exact nature of the charges Pray faced.

Multnomah County Circuit Judge Nan Waller had ordered Pray to receive treatment at the state hospital on Aug. 22 after finding him mentally unsound and unable to understand the charges he faces, which include attempted aggravated murder for shooting and wounding a Portland woman last year.

Pray also has open cases for allegedly assaulting another woman, firing a gun while robbing an auto-parts store, driving recklessly while fleeing police and criminal mischief for allegedly scraping away concrete near his cell in the downtown Portland jail, records show.

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