BOULDER, Colo. — In the early morning hours Thursday, Max Lord woke up to his dog baying. He said he went outside to the alley behind his Boulder home and saw a woman spray-painting his green truck.
“She just went through the whole garage and kind of tore it apart and took what she saw fit. So, like, blankets, backpacking gear, mostly," Lord said about the woman.
He believes she was trying to disguise his truck by spray-painting it before stealing it.
Lord said his dog ran after the woman, and he was able to detain her until police arrived. Arrest papers identify the woman as Asijah Bines, who was arrested that morning. However, neighbors said the judge in the case gave Bines a PR bond, and she was released back into the community.
Bines was charged with several crimes related to her alleged actions Thursday, one of which is attempted aggravated motor vehicle theft.
In the arrest papers, Boulder police note that Bines was arrested eight days earlier on August 17 for a handful of charges, including aggravated motor vehicle theft.
"We feel sorry for the police because they're chasing this woman every day almost. And she's back out onto the streets," said Lord's next door neighbor, Tom Boice.
Boice said he believes Bines is the same woman who broke into his truck last week.
"What's happening is that our whole neighborhood is kind of under siege to a degree with this," he said. “It's emboldening these criminals around here, because they realize, "Hey, nothing's gonna happen to us." So you could steal a bike, steal a car, no consequences. And the consequences are landing back on us as a neighborhood, having to take things into our own hands."
Both Boice and Lord believe a lack of mental healthcare resources have contributed to the repeat offenses.
“[She's] clearly suffering from mental illness. She's probably going to pass through the crucible of the justice system. And then meanwhile, I need to start padlocking all of my things," Lord said. “Ideally, we'd have better mental health facilities for someone like her to kind of recover from whatever she's going through. But right now, there's nobody that's really helping her.”
Those with the Boulder County Sheriff's Office said the jail has 543 beds available under normal circumstances. However, right now, they are far from normal because of the pandemic and the arrest standards that changed during those two years, in addition to the backlog within the court system. Those factors mean the Boulder County Jail is filled with maximum security inmates.
Due to the current population, the jail cannot fill every bed like they once could prior to COVID-19. Many jail cells have double bunks, but because of safety reasons with their current inmates, the jail cannot put some inmates in rooms with other inmates.
As of Friday morning, there were 440 inmates in the Boulder County Jail. Over the past few weeks, they have had to house people on the gym floor because of space issues.
According to those with the Boulder County Sheriff's Office, there are 70 inmates currently in the jail who should not technically be there. Some are waiting for a mental health evaluation at the state hospital in Pueblo, while others have had their evaluation and are waiting on the state hospital to find a place for them.
The Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo (CMHIP) said evaluations are performed through the state's Office of Behavioral Health (OBH) Forensic Services Division. According to those with OBH, between January 1 and August 24, OBH completed 1,841 initial competency evaluations, 2,061 Incompetent to Proceed evaluations, and 77 Sanity/Mental Condition evaluations.
CMHIP’s capacity with full staffing is 516 beds, and their current capacity is around 424 adult, geriatric and adolescent beds. Those with OBH said CMHIP is impacted by a national nursing shortage, forcing them to close some units.
As of August 26, there are 382 beds filled at CMHIP and seven beds available for competency restoration treatment, which all have offers pending.
Those with OBH said as of August 25, there are 384 pre-trial defendants who have been deemed incompetent to proceed and are awaiting admission for inpatient restorative services at CMHIP.