Psychiatric patient disappears from Bronx Lebanon Hospital

MOUNT EDEN, Bronx (WABC) -- A 28-year-old man being held for psychiatric evaluation walked out of a Bronx hospital Thursday afternoon.

Torian Koonce was being supervised by the state Office of Mental Health when he left the Bronx Lebanon Hospital on the Grand Concourse at 4 p.m.

He was arrested in January for criminal possession of a controlled substance and served 34 days in jail before being transferred to state custody for medical treatment.

The Office of Mental Health said in a statement that it cannot identify anyone in its care due to privacy laws. Any missing patient is reported to law enforcement, it said.

Koonce has two active arrests warrants for alcohol consumption and panhandling and 60 prior arrests, including for burglary, robbery, grand larceny, assault, criminal trespass, public lewdness, and drug possession.