Lentino case raises mental health issues

By Timothy Pratt

Friday, Sept. 17, 2004 | 11:04 a.m.

Four days after Las Vegas resident Richard Lentino was arrested in connection with the slayings of three family members, it remains unclear if the system failed to detect danger from his alleged mental illness, or even if he had contact with the system -- due to conflicting statements and federal privacy laws.

If there were early warning signs that Lentino was on the verge of violence, that could point to "a system failure," according to Jim Osti, former director of the valley's only center for the mentally ill and addicted, at WestCare.

"In each one of the points of contact with the system, it seems people could have done better," Osti said.

Metro Police charged Lentino, 23, with three counts of murder in the slayings of his mother, sister and infant nephew Monday.

Lentino's roommate Sacramento Martinez and landlord Abe Samiei said there were warning signs. They said they called Las Vegas Metro Police in recent weeks seeking protection from Lentino, who they say was acting irrationally and brandishing a large knife. Police said they couldn't respond if no crime had been committed, Samiei said.

But Metro Sgt. Kendall Wiley, who trains officers to deal with the mentally ill, said she found no record of such calls to 311 or 911, after a search of records of the last two months.

Similarly, Martinez said he took Lentino to the state psychiatric hospital, where a psychiatrist told him his roommate would spend at least six days in the slow-moving, backed-up system that has been in an officially declared state of emergency since early July.

Lentino showed up at their Flamingo Road apartment three days later, and didn't appear to be in any better shape than when he had left, Martinez said.

But none of the details of his narrative can be confirmed by state officials or the hospital where Lentino allegedly spent those three days because of a federal law meant to protect the privacy of patients.

Martinez as well as Lentino's father, a New York lawyer who is also named Richard Lentino, each have publicly said that the alleged killer suffers from bipolar disorder, a psychiatric condition characterized by alternating, extreme moods.

Martinez, who said he moved from the Los Angeles-area five months ago and has shared an apartment with Lentino since June at the Desert Springs Inn apartment complex, said he had become increasingly alarmed by his roommate's behavior in recent weeks.

After he saw a large knife in his bathroom and Lentino offered no explanation, he went to Samiei.

Samiei said he had also seen Lentino with a knife outside the apartment. The landlord said he called 311 twice and explained that a mentally ill man had a knife and was scaring his roommate. The operator said nothing could be done unless a crime had been committed, Samiei said.

When Wiley saw those details emerge in press accounts of Monday's arrest of Lentino, she said she wanted to look into Metro's side of the story immediately.

"I was like, 'Metro was called ... and his father says he's bipolar -- and we didn't look into this?' " said Wiley, who has trained 179 officers to deal with the mentally ill. "I thought it might be a training issue. I'm trying to figure out if anything needs to be changed."

Wiley said officers would normally respond to such a call, and they know that state law gives them authority to commit anyone to a hospital -- the first stop before being transferred to the state psychiatric facility -- if that person appears to be mentally ill and a danger to themselves or others.

If the officers don't feel comfortable dealing with the situation themselves, they can call on members of her team, who recognize symptoms of mental illness and can calm down people in crisis.

Wiley researched dispatch records linked to Desert Springs Inn and found four calls to Metro in the last two months--all of which were unrelated to the suspect.

"I don't understand why he says he called if we don't have the records," Wiley said.

But Samiei defended his account of the calls.

"I don't understand why they didn't come out and at least talk to him," he said.

The apartment complex manager also said he had told Lentino to seek treatment, or face eviction.

Martinez said he took Lentino to the psychiatric hospital at 6161 W. Charleston Road, which he said he knew about because he is paranoid schizophrenic and has gotten treatment from the state since moving here.

"As soon as I took him over he started doing all these weird exorcism movements in the lobby," Martinez said.

A psychiatrist saw him that same day, according to Martinez.

That would be unusual, Osti said, because it usually takes weeks to see a psychiatrist due to the system being overwhelmed.

Shortly afterward, Martinez said, "She comes out and calls an officer. 'He's acting a little bizarre,' she said."

"Then she comes out and calls me, since Lentino wasn't answering questions and was telling them I was his father.

"I told her, 'He's walking around with a knife and is bipolar,' " he said. "I'm telling the psychiatrist I'm scared."

The psychiatrist said Lentino would go to a nearby hospital for about three days and then come back to the state hospital for at least three days, Martinez said.

Under state law, the mentally ill must first be seen to determine if they suffer from any physical disorder, and then they may receive treatment for any psychological disorder. The state hospital doesn't have the ability to offer the physical exams, so it must send patients to area emergency rooms.

Patients are then sent back to 6161 W. Charleston -- although some hospitals have psychiatrists who can offer diagnoses related to mental illness and discharge patients.

"This setup leaves several points of potential breakdown in the system," said Osti, who currently works as a consultant on mental health issues.

"There's not a lot of communication between (the state and area hospitals)," he said.

In other words, in Lentino's case, emergency room staff would most likely not know about his alleged knife-wielding or the calls to Metro, if they occurred.

"They're starting from square one and not getting any corollary information," Osti said.

"So a competent person in the emergency department doesn't always have enough information to make the best decision -- and may wind up sending the patient home," he said.

Martinez said that's what happened. Lentino showed up at their apartment three days later after Martinez had taken him to the psychiatric hospital, Martinez said.

"I'm like, 'Oh my God, this guy is here.' I told him, 'Why are you here?' "

"He said, 'They let me go.' "

Within four days, three people were dead -- allegedly "just because this guy went bonkers and nobody got to him in time," Martinez said.