Man released without medication

TAMPA -- People who know Gabriel Dorville say he is friendly and outgoing when he takes his medications. Without the drugs, the paranoid schizophrenic has trouble communicating, exhibits psychotic tendencies and could become violent.

Right now, Dorville probably isn't taking his medications.

A miscommunication this week at the Orient Road jail put Dorville on the street instead of into the care of his older sister. Since then, no one has been able to find the 47-year-old Army veteran.

His sister, Maud Dorville, is praying that he doesn't do anything that gets him sent back to jail. Or worse.

"I told the police, 'Please don't shoot him when you find him. He is sick and needs help,' " she said.

Dorville's legal problems began 12 years ago when he walked up to a traffic incident on Gunn Highway in northwest Hillsborough County. Dorville went up to one of the cars and bounced on the bumper.

A Florida Highway Patrol trooper confronted Dorville, who had a knife concealed in his front pocket, according to the arrest reports. Dorville allegedly made a move to grab the knife and "attempt to jab the knife toward me," the trooper wrote.

Dorville was charged with aggravated assault on a law officer and carrying a concealed weapon. Competency issues arose during his case and Dorville was sent to the state psychiatric facility. He was released after he agreed to appear at subsequent court hearings.

The case stalled and in 1996 Dorville's public defender filed a motion to dismiss the charges. But Dorville failed to show up at the hearing and the judge issued a warrant for his arrest.

Fast forward to August of this year, when Dorville jumped the fence at the assisted living facility in Palm Beach County, where he had lived for several weeks. His sister had moved him out of her house when health problems made it impossible for her to care for her brother, she said.

"I think he was trying to make his way home to his sister," said Dorothy Bates, a supervisor at the facility. "He felt abandoned, which can be common with people who are paranoid."

Employees at the facility could not entice Dorville inside and called police for assistance. They wanted officers to take Dorville to the local Veterans Affairs hospital so he could be stabilized before returning to the facility.

In a routine background check, the officers discovered the 1996 warrant from Hillsborough County for failing to appear and took him into custody. Dorville was eventually transferred to the Orient Road jail.

On Monday, Dorville's attorney, John Trevena, explained his client's circumstances and asked a judge to dismiss the charges. The prosecutor did not object and the judge ordered Dorville released.

Trevena told the judge that Maud Dorville would go straight to the jail to await his release. She arrived at about 4 p.m. and told the deputy on duty she was waiting for her brother. She had brought some clean clothes, a pair of shoes and her brother's medications.

She took a seat and began waiting. Several times she asked what was going on. She was told to sit tight. He would be out soon enough.

Hours passed.

At about 6:30 a.m., having waited all night, she asked again. The deputy told her Mr. Dorville was released at 10:40 p.m.

The news brought her to tears.

"My God! I cannot believe this. Where's Gabby?" she said. "He cannot be on his own."

Maud Dorville said she had left the waiting area only a few times to eat a candy bar outside and to get some fresh air. She couldn't believe the guards would let her brother just walk away knowing she was there to pick him up.

Sheriff's Col. David Parrish, who runs the jail, said Dorville's paperwork from the court did not say anything about making sure he was released to his sister's care. He said she didn't make that clear to the guards.

An average of 180 inmates are released each day, Parrish said, and many have relatives waiting to pick them up. The guards can't be expected to make sure they all meet up with the right relatives.

The jail has no special policies for dealing with the release of mentally ill inmates. Parrish, however, said if the guards had known the circumstances, they would have gone "above and beyond" to make sure Dorville was united with his sister when he was released.

"Once an inmate is ordered released from jail, we cannot hold them here," Parrish said. "That would violate their rights."

Sheriff's officials have coordinated a search for Dorville that includes checking hospitals and other jails.

Gabriel Dorville has a thick Haitian accent and often reverts to speaking Creole when he is off his medications. He is 5 feet 7 with brown eyes and a medium build. He smokes cigarettes, his favorites being Camels.

Bates, the supervisor at the assisted living facility, said Dorville gets very agitated and doesn't like to be touched. He'll respond when called "soldier," she said.

"He also has a beautiful smile that he often shows off," Bates said. "We look forward to his return."

Anyone with information about Dorville's whereabouts can call the Sheriff's Office at (813) 247-8000.

-- Graham Brink can be reached at (813) 226-3365 or brink@sptimes.com .

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