Phoenix News Times
BY RAY STERN
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 18, 2015
Cooper in the hospital after being found in a puddle of blood following the hit-and-run. Attorney Gregory Patton
Jason Cooper, 41, a California man who served in the Marine Corps for 11 years before his honorable discharge in 2002, still suffers from the traumatic injuries received in the collision, his lawyer tells New Times.
A skull fracture left his brain injured, reducing his ability to speak. He can walk only with the assistance of a cane.
His story reflects not only the bad state of affairs at the Carl Hayden facility and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs system before serious problems were first exposed last year by CNN but also the difficulty of long-term care for schizophrenic patients.
Computer information showed Cooper was listed as a missing person. The officer called Thumbelina Hinshaw, a VA psychiatric nurse who acted as Cooper's caregiver. She told him to take Cooper to the nearest VA facility. Cops escorted Cooper in handcuffs into the Carl Hayden center at Seventh Street and Indian School Road.
Hinshaw then contacted officials at the facility and told them not to discharge Cooper because he was a danger to himself and might "get run over by a car," says a notice of claim filed against the VA in December. She told them she'd leave for Phoenix immediately to pick up Cooper.
At 11:09 p.m., the VA hospital "discharged Mr. Cooper to the street," records state.
Cooper was found six hours later in the middle of Indian School Road, just west of Seventh Street, "unconscious and near death, lying in a fetal position in the middle of the street with tire marks over his body in a puddle of blood..."
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