Published: March 21, 2007 10:38 am      

Bonner checks himself into Louisville hospital

Sons turn themselves in

The man accused of attacking several staff members at Clark Memorial Hospital after hearing that his son had died checked himself into a Louisville hospital Monday.

His two teenage sons — who have also been charged in the attack — are in police custody.

Christopher 2X, a Louisville activist and founder of the nonprofit organization The Ceremonial Healing Group, said Tuesday afternoon that Thomas Bonner Sr. checked himself into the psychiatric ward at Veterans Affairs Hospital in Louisville, but was unsure of the type of treatment he was seeking or for how long he planned to stay.

A spokeswoman with the VA Hospital’s public affairs office said she would not confirm that Bonner was a patient there, citing the federal Health Information Privacy and Accountability Act.

Christopher 2X said he negotiated the peaceful surrender of Bonner’s two sons — ages 14 and 16 — early Tuesday evening. Detective Charlie Thompson with the Jeffersonville Police Department confirmed that the two are in custody at the Clark County Juvenile Detention Center and are facing charges of battery and disorderly conduct.

Police said the Bonners had been hiding out in Louisville.

Jeffersonville Police Department Assistant Chief Mark Lovan said police would wait until Bonner completed his desired treatment at VA Hospital before serving the warrant against him, as he is still wanted on charges of aggravated battery and two counts of battery, all felonies.

Police say Bonner and his two sons attacked staff members at Clark Memorial Hospital’s emergency room on March 11 after hearing of the death of Bonner’s son, 19-year-old Thomas Bonner Jr.

The Bonners allegedly injured at least seven people, including 57-year-old Clifford Lindsey, a hospital security officer, who was later admitted into the intensive care unit. Mary Jennings, the hospital’s director of marketing and public relations, said Lindsey has since been released.

Bonner denied he used violence at the hospital in a weekend phone conversation with a reporter.

Christopher 2X said Bonner — a 16-year U.S. Navy veteran — was suffering from extreme depression and stress after the loss of his son, but he now “wanted to go forward and let this go through the court processes.” He said he had not discussed at length the alleged incident at the hospital with Bonner.

Christopher 2X described himself as Bonner’s “childhood friend” and said Bonner contacted him Saturday about the situation.

“I’ve been working with them to try to mediate this situation,” Christopher 2X said from his cell phone Tuesday as he drove Bonner’s sons to the detention center in Clark County. “I put myself in the position of liaison (between the Bonners and the Jeffersonville Police Department) so there can be a peaceful surrender.”

Attorney Patrick Renn said Tuesday evening that Bonner family members had contacted him, asking him for representation. He said he had not spoken with the Bonner teenagers and said he expected Bonner Sr. to turn himself into police once he is out of the hospital.

Fred Horlander, vice president of support services for Clark Memorial Hospital, said Tuesday that the hospital is reviewing the incident allegedly involving the Bonners to see if any changes could or should be made to its security policy. He said the hospital employs three security guards per shift, but that they are armed only with pepper spray.

“We’re currently doing a root-cause analysis of the whole situation as we do on any type of out-of-the-ordinary situation,” Horlander said. “We’ll look to see if there’s anything we could have done differently or anything that could be done better in the future.”

The security guards used to carry Taser guns, Horlander said, but after conducting a survey of area hospitals to gain information on their security policies, the hospital’s administration decided to remove them.

“Nobody else (at hospitals) was carrying any type of weapon,” Horlander said. “And so we decided not to have them.

“We have a security force here, not a police force,” he continued. “That’s not appropriate for hospitals.”

Horlander said he considered the alleged attacks “an isolated situation that really got out of hand” and that he was not aware of any other incident like it.

He went on to call Clark Memorial Hospital a “very safe hospital.”