UPDATE…

Jamestown  (Valley News Live) – A high-risk sex offender who left the grounds of North Dakota State Hospital in Jamestown Tuesday—after being admitted involuntarily—was found and arrested on Wednesday.

KVLY reports, North Dakota Highway Patrol Captain Bryan Niewind says

30 year old Jerry Roy Stewart was spotted walking along Highway 281, and later picked up some 13 miles south of Jamestown.

Court records show Stewart, of St. John, has a long list of offenses, in multiple counties.

Niewind says “Stewart is a registered violent sex offender, and he’s also underneath the custody of North Dakota Parole and Probation right now.

In August 2018 Stewart was charged with failure to comply with child offender registration.

Niewind says “We’re determining whether or not he has failed to comply with his registration again, and if he has, we’ll make sure that he’s charged for that again.”

Niewind says he could also face charges for leaving the state hospital.,  being involuntarily committed to the state hospital by a judge, and that he walked away, he’s failing to comply with that mandate and he could be held in contempt of court.”

State Hospital Superintendent Rosalie Etherington says, “We treat approximately 13-1500 individuals per year, adding that it is not necessarily an uncommon thing for individuals to make decisions about their own care or even to elope from a hospital or walk away from a hospital.”

Etherington wouldn’t comment on Stewart’s case, citing privacy laws. But says many patients come into the hospital straight from the public.

Niewind tells KVLY that  Stewart was at the State Hospital for chemical dependency treatment.

Stewart’s probation officer says, Stewart basically failed to comply with his probation conditions and he’s not in compliance with his probation conditions. But at this point in time, the North Dakota Parole and Probation is not pursuing any charges.

 

Previously…

Jamestown  The North Dakota Highway Patrol reports,  the State Hospital patient who escaped Tuesday night, was captured Wednesday morning.

Jerry Roy Stewart was taken into custody by the ND Highway Patrol at approximately 6:36 am on Hwy. 281 approximately 13 miles south of Jamestown.  Several motorists reported a male walking southbound on Hwy. 281.  A trooper responded, located Stewart and took him into custody without incident.

Previously…

Jamestown  (NDHP)  The North Dakota Highway Patrol reports that a  ND State Hospital patient that went AWOL from the State Hospital at 7:45 pm, on Tuesday.

The report says  30 year old Jerry Roy Stewart,  left his unit at the ND State Hospital in Jamestown on June 18th, 2019 at approximately 7:45 pm on an authorized 15-minute pass to take a walk on the ND State Hospital grounds.

He failed to return to his unit after he leaving at 7:45 pm and Stewart is now considered AWOL (absent without leave) from the ND State Hospital.  Stewart was civilly committed to the ND State Hospital for chemical dependency issues.

He is a registered sex offender, with his registry showing he has violent tendencies.  Stewart has lengthy criminal history to include assault.  He is currently on probation with ND Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.  Stewart is not in compliance with his sex offender registry and probation conditions.

Stewart has connections to Stutsman, Barnes, Cass and Rolette Counties, along with the cities of Fargo, Valley City, Jamestown, Bismarck and Moorhead, MN.  He was last seen wearing blue jeans and a black hoodie.  He currently has a beard.  Stewart has the letters ‘G’ and ‘R’ tattooed on the right side of his neck.

It is unknown which direction he walked away from the ND State Hospital campus.  If the public locates Stewart, we are asking that they not approach him.  They should call 911 to provide information to their local law enforcement agency or they can call ND State Radio at 1-800-472-2121 and local law enforcement resources will be dispatched.