FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTUU) – Heidi Lobel chose not to involve law enforcement in an attempt to get mental health care for her husband last October, but state troopers arrived anyway, setting off a chain of events. As a result, Lobel and her husband decided to file a lawsuit against the state of Alaska. Department of Public Security.
In October 2023, Lobel sought help for her husband, Philip, who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. She noticed a change in his behavior and was concerned.
“He was in a manic state,” she explained. “He hadn’t slept or eaten in about seven to 10 days as far as I could track.”
She called the hospital near her home in Fairbanks to see if there was a bed available for her husband.
“I told them I never want to involve the police, and the police are trained to deal with crime and criminal activity…” she said.
“They’re not set up with mental health in mind,” she said, “so I didn’t want to involve them.”
Heidi Lobel said Philip Lobel never threatened her and she was not concerned about the possibility of violence. She just wanted to get him into an environment where he could see a mental health professional.
“I just wanted to convince him to join,” she said.
Hospital officials suggested that Lobel consider a mobile crisis unit, a first-response team for mental health-related issues. She decided to try out the resources offered to the Fairbanks community.
“I was excited about the prospect,” she said, explaining that she did not call 911. “I called the Fairbanks Police Department’s sales line because they are dispatched by the Fairbanks Police Department.”
Hours after the call, paramedics arrived outside her home to greet her, ready to persuade Philip Lobel to leave the house and be taken to an inpatient facility.
“I didn’t expect the Mobile Crisis Response Team to bring in the troopers that night,” Lobel said, describing what she saw when her husband came out of the house. She said he believed he was being arrested and raised his hands in the air to show complete submission, even though he had done nothing to warrant arrest.
Heidi Lobel said Philip Lobel returned to his parents’ home on the night of Oct. 11, instead of agreeing to be transferred to a mental health facility. Officers suggested that Heidi Lobel, along with her daughter and grandson, stay elsewhere overnight to give Philip Lobel a more spacious place to sleep, during which time officers assessed an involuntary transfer. filed a petition asking for.
Multiple officers and a mobile crisis unit returned to the Lobel residence on Oct. 12 after Philip Lobel was granted involuntary removal, she said.
Heidi Lobel claims she spoke with officers at a nearby gas station before they returned to her home. They hatched a plan to allow Heidi to let her husband outside to talk to the cops, even going so far as to provide the officers with a key to their home to ensure they could get inside.
As she drove to her home, AST blocked her approach and police officers used a battering ram to open the front door, shot out windows, fired tear gas, and threw guns. She said they locked her in the car for four hours. Flash grenades inside the residence.
Lobel said her husband was shot with a taping gun, shot in the arm and face with a bean bag gun, and was taken to an ambulance upside down, bleeding profusely from the head.
The ambulance report details some of the injuries Philip Lobel appears to have sustained on the night of the incident. Heidi Lobel said she suffered a fractured orbit, broken jaw, fractured facial bones, three broken vertebrae, three broken ribs and a traumatic brain injury. He spent more than a week in the hospital after the exposure, and a year later, he still hasn’t fully recovered.
“He was in constant pain and then he went through concussions and traumatic brain injuries…He’s not the same person, he’s different,” Heidi Lobel said. “And on top of that, when you’re assaulted in that way, the PTSD is extreme.”
Lobel’s lawsuit seeks more than $100,000 in compensation for damage to her home, damage to Philip Lobel’s health and other expenses. Families have been unable to enter their home for the past year on Friday because of tear gas left inside and images sent to Alaska News Source of store windows and sliding glass doors shattered and boarded up. He said he couldn’t do it.
The Ministry of Public Security said by phone that it was aware of the lawsuit but declined to comment on the evening in question. A spokesperson told Alaska News Source that further communication on this matter will come in the form of a court filing.
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