Woman didn’t receive mental health aid before arrest

After sleeping at Annapolis City Hall, she was charged with felony, held without bail

Despite previous statements by the Annapolis Police Department and Chief Ed Jackson, the Anne Arundel County crisis intervention team, a premier connecting force between suspects with mental illness and medical resources, did not respond to Annapolis City Hall before Maureen Donovan was arrested last month.

Donovan, 64, was arrested Feb. 22 after City Hall custodians found her asleep in the government building. According to charging documents, she was able to enter the facility by slipping through a scan-access door before it had closed the night before. Overnight, Donovan had eaten less than $5 worth of Hot Pockets from an employee break room and was found with Mayor Gavin Buckley’s gavel, taken from the City Council chambers, police said. She was charged with felony burglary and three misdemeanors. Donovan’s family, her attorney and members of the Annapolis community have criticized the charges as excessive.

Annapolis Police spokesperson Bernie Bennett told The Capital in a Feb. 28 interview that a crisis intervention team had responded to City Hall when Donovan was found, and that the Annapolis woman had denied the resources offered to her. He said that as a matter of policy, if such services are offered and declined, an arrest may be made.

In a separate interview, Annapolis Police Chief Ed Jackson said Donovan had declined help, as well.

“That was incorrect, and it would not normally be something we’d comment on anyway,” Annapolis Police Capt. Amy Miguez said in a voicemail to The Capital on Tuesday.

According to family members, Donovan has been has been held without bail and under restricted access at the Jennifer Road Detention Center since her arrest, meaning she has been barred from seeing or calling anyone, includ

ing relatives, for nearly two weeks.

Walking into a courtroom at Annapolis District Court Tuesday, Donovan waved to family members sitting in the front bench. She would later ask Anne Arundel District Judge Danielle Mosley if she would be allowed to speak with them, a request the judge denied.

Later in the hearing, her sisters Becky Donovan and Bridget Kennedy said goodbye — though Mosley said, “Excuse me, these are not visiting hours.”

Defense attorney Mandeep Chhabra said Tuesday he has not been given a concrete answer as to why his client cannot contact family from jail.

Becky Donovan told The Capital that Maureen has long suffered from mental illness and said it should have been “obvious” to responding personnel that she was in crisis at City Hall.

“This is egregious,” Becky Donovan said after Tuesday’s hearing. “This is an example of the system failing completely.”

Established in 2014 and since recognized internationally for its efforts, Anne Arundel County’s crisis intervention teams typically responds to situations in which someone is experiencing a mental health crisis. Made up of a police officer and a mental health counselor, often wearing blue shirts as opposed to full police gear, the intervention team attempts to divert citizens from the criminal justice system when appropriate, instead offering resources and support.

Donovan’s sister said she had received a call on Monday from the Anne Arundel County Mental Health Agency, which partners with the county police department to form its crisis intervention team, and was told no one responded to her sister’s case. The Capital received a call about the Annapolis Police Department’s misstatement Tuesday afternoon.

Miguez declined to comment further on Donovan’s arrest.

In a green jumpsuit, with her hair braided, Donovan made her most recent court appearance Tuesday. Initially slated to be a competency hearing, attorney J. Annie Meyers, who stood in for Chhabra, pushed to have Donovan’s case moved off the emergency review, or mental health, docket to the trial docket. Mosley accepted the request and Donovan was returned to the detention center.

Chhabra explained in a phone call that the push was meant to expedite Donovan’s potential release to a mental health facility. The attorney said that instead of waiting for a competency evaluation to take place through the court system, a bail review could take place once a health plan is established to get Donovan any help she needs.

“We just don’t have enough mental health help for people in these situations,” Chhabra said.

A GoFundMe for Donovan’s legal defense has received more than $3,600 as of Tuesday evening. The fundraiser can be found at gofund.me/73da0ad0.