Illinois State Police said Michael Bennett was depressed and recently attempted suicide. A JWS transport driver dropped Bennett off at the intersection of Touhy Avenue and Maple Street in Des Plaines at 11 a.m. Friday,police said.
[Ads /]
Bennett was being transferred from Chicago Behavioral Health Hospital in Des Plaines to Westwood Nursing Home in Chicago when the driver left him at the wrong intersection.
Monday morning after a missing and endangered alert was sent out through the state police, Jim Warmbier saw the report on ABC7 Eyewitness News and as he drove into work at Higgins Printing near Touhy and River Road, he spotted Bennett in curled up in a ball in a ditch.
"I ran into the shop and told my manager I said there's somebody laying on the ground out there and I happened to see a news report this morning," Warmbier said.
His co-worker Jeff Armstrong spotted him as well.
[Ads /]
"Very sad. You could see he was all bundled up. Looked like he had a pillow almost, but again, it was good ending because luckily Jim saw your broadcast," Armstrong said.
Bennett was taken to a local hospital to be checked out.
Meanwhile, an administrator at Westwood Nursing Home said that Chicago Behavioral Health Hospital is responsible for arranging patient transport and he is "mystified" as to why the driver didn't escort Bennett into the nursing home instead dropping him off at a random location.
CBH had no comment. ABC7 has reached out to JWS Transport but has not heard back.