A Man Who Escaped From an Oregon Hospital While Chained Up and Had to Be Pulled Out of a Muddy Pond Was Given a Term

A man was given 22 years in jail for breaking out of Oregon’s state psychiatric hospital while fully chained up and was later found floundering in a muddy pond.

The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office said Christopher Pray had agreed to a plea deal. On Monday, Pray admitted to charges of attempted murder, first-degree manslaughter, robbery, and assault in different events. He was given a 22-year sentence for things that happened between 2022 and 2024.

The defense lawyer for Pray did not reply right away to a request for comment from The Associated Press on Tuesday.

In August of last year, Pray got away from the Oregon State Hospital in Salem. Police say Pray put himself in charge of the van he was being taken in while the driver was outside and drove off while being restrained with leg irons, a belly chain, and handcuffs.

The next day, police found him in a muddy pond in Portland and took him back into jail.

After that, a federal probe found that the hospital did not properly transport and watch over him.