Police arrest one of two patients who escaped Eastern State Hospital

On Sunday afternoon, a man who escaped from a Virginia mental hospital was apprehended by Virginia State Police. Another man is still on the loose.

Virginia State Police report Bryant Wilkerson, 29, and Austin Leigh, 31, escaped from Williamsburg, Virginia’s Eastern State Hospital. The hospital requested state police assistance in finding the patients on Sunday, according to authorities, but it was not clear when the two patients departed the hospital.

Wilkerson and Leigh, according to authorities, are both convicted offenders with outstanding warrants. Leigh has outstanding warrants for drug-related offenses and evading a mental institution. Wilkerson is wanted for a felony probation violation as well as evading a mental hospital. Wilkerson is considered armed and dangerous, according to police.

According to state police, one of the two escapees, 31-year-old Austin Preston Leigh, was apprehended Sunday evening in Chesapeake. He is being held without bond at the Chesapeake City Jail.

The second suspect, Bryant Marcus Wilkerson, 29, is still at large. Leigh informed state police that he had no idea where Wilkerson was.

Anyone with information on either of the escapees or their whereabouts is asked to contact Virginia State Police at (757)424-6800, extension #77, or by email at questions@vsp.virginia.gov.