Following in the footsteps of Britney Spears' family, the family of comedian, Katt Williams is trying to have him committed at a pyschiatric hospital. Williams is the father of eight children, seven of them adopted from foster care. (Brad and Angelina have nothing on him. Seven children adopted from good ole American foster care instead of some exotic far off land. Williams should be the face of adoption.)
Sumter Police Department Maj. Perry Herod said officers responded to a call in reference to suspicious behavior by Williams, 35, on Friday morning at the Mount Vernon Inn.
"And officers did talk with him, and then my understanding is he went on his own to Tuomey Hospital," Herod said.
"Basically we just received a call in reference to a possible suspicious person, but that's the extent of the dealings we had with him," said Sumter Police Chief Patty Patterson.
Patterson said Williams was trying to acquire a room at the motel when hotel employees called at around 8:30 a.m. due to his strange attire: a bathrobe and a towel wrapped around his head. After determining no criminal activity was taking place, officers left.
"He asked for some directions, which he was given, and we departed," she said.
The towel around his head was probably because he didn't want to mess up his perm.
Williams then went to attorney, Garryl Deas because he felt that police were "attempting to violate his rights". It's a reasonable assumption, Williams has been arrested a few times on weapon's charges and such. They talked about his career and how he had missed several performances. There was even a rumor that Williams had died. Katt waited about an hour in the lawyer's office while he went to court.
But by the time Deas returned Katt William's behavior had taken a turn for the worse. Two members of his family soon arrived to try get him to go into the hospital. Two women who Deas believe to be his teenage daughter and her mother thought he needed a mental evaluation.
"His demeanor was a little troubled," Deas said. He said the actor seemed "disoriented." But Williams didn't want to go.
"He just said that he doesn't trust anyone anymore," Deas said. He said he thought "everyone has turned against him. He wasn't really coherent."
By that point, the actor was "speaking gibberish," Deas said, though he declined to guess whether the actor was intoxicated.
Deas said the family was seeking an order from a probate judge to force him to be seen for a mental evaluation. Sumter Probate Judge Dale Atkinson, however, said neither he nor any of his staff issued a pickup order for anyone by the name of Katt Williams.
Sumter County Sheriff Anthony Dennis said, however, that an order was issued by the probate court and that because his department becomes involved with these type of matters, his office was called.
Dennis said the call came in around noon and deputies arrived to transport Williams to the hospital. Though he was vocal in his desire not to go, Williams was not physically aggressive.
She could not reveal whether Williams or his family had been in contact with them, but Kathleen Higgins, clinical director for Santee Wateree Mental Health Center, said in order for someone to be psychiatrically committed, one has to be assessed by a mental health worker, "and then a doctor has to sign the commitment papers."
Two psychiatric physicians currently have privileges at Tuomey: Drs. William King and David Justice. Tuomey, however, would not provide any information on whether Williams was treated there.
"I don't have any information on that patient," said Holly Chase in Tuomey's public relations.
To be committed, someone must be viewed as being at imminent risk of committing suicide or homicide, Higgins said. Should Williams be committed, he might go to a number of hospitals in South Carolina, including the G. Werber Bryan Psychiatric Hospital in Columbia or private institutions such as Three Rivers Behavioral Healthcare or Palmetto Health Baptist in Columbia, the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston or McLeod Regional Medical Center's behavioral center in Darlington. Though these are not the only behavioral institutions in the state, they are the places local patients are most often sent, Higgins said.
Higgins said a legal commitment spans 72 hours, and after that time a patient must go before a judge to determine whether to be hospitalized or not.
One of Williams' most recent public appearances was at a sold-out performance at Carnegie Hall in New York City, which he made just in time, after being released from jail on weapons charges. He is scheduled to appear on Nov. 20 at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas and on Dec. 31 in Detroit with comedian Steve Harvey. Williams has reportedly said the Dec. 31 show will be his last stand-up show.
His publicist Yvette Shearer, with Shearer Public Relations, did not return a call for comment by press time.
Hopefully Williams will be able to pull himself together. And maybe South Carolina is a good place to do it. They seem to want to protect his privacy, so he won't have to worry about Dr. Phil showing up with his cameras or the staff leaking information.
And why didn't the lawyer help Williams. The probate court will probably be appointing one for him sooner or later.
source
source
No comments:
Post a Comment