Monitor for robber’s mental illness weighed
By all accounts, Kevin D. Nunn behaves himself when he’s taking medication and being monitored for his mental illness.
When he isn’t, he is a chronic robber of Columbus banks.
Nunn, 52, thinks he’s responsible for the success of the Motown music industry, Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Michael J. Holbrook told Dispatch reporter John Futty.
He goes into banks to get the money he thinks he’s owed, suggesting to tellers that he has a gun.
Holbrook expressed reluctance at a hearing last week to approve a less restrictive status for Nunn at a state psychiatric hospital on the Hilltop, where he has spent most of the past 13 years.
Nunn first was committed to Twin Valley Behavioral Healthcare in 2004 after his arrest on charges of robbing three banks in late 2003. He was released to independent housing in July 2007, and five months later he was in the news for robbing two banks, one of which he fled in a taxi cab.
Those robberies resulted in another finding of not guilty by reason of insanity in 2008. By February 2016, Nunn was doing well enough that Holbrook approved a recommendation from hospital authorities that he be granted unsupervised movement away from the facility.
In March 2016, he robbed two Downtown banks in one day. He was arrested quickly after the second by an alert police officer at Broad and High Streets who heard a description of the robber on his radio.
Based on psychological evaluations, Holbrook made the latest not-guilty-byreason-of-insanity finding last summer. A week ago, the judge heard a request from psychiatric staff members to upgrade Nunn’s status to allow unsupervised movement on the hospital grounds.
It’s important to gradually prepare Nunn for release into the community, the judge said, because he can’t be held at the hospital for longer than eight years, the maximum sentence for the bank robberies.
Officer a lifesaver
A Columbus police officer working on the Hilltop was recently recognized for saving the lives of 20 people.
Officer Edward Chung, 44, who has been on the force since December 2014, has been one of the most active officers when it comes to administering the life-saving drug naloxone to overdose victims.
“I am proud to recognize Officer Chung because not only did he save the lives of 20 individuals, but he also saved 20 families from the unimaginable grief of losing a loved one to this devastating epidemic,” Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said in a statement. “Those suffering from addiction deserve a second chance at life, and carrying naloxone is the right thing to do.”
Chung was also recognized by the Columbus Division of Police in May when he was awarded a lifesaving award for his efforts. Officers began carrying the drug last year, and the division has gradually expanded the program.