A man who’s accused of grabbing a child at an area hospital and refusing to let him go told Clark County sheriff’s deputies that he thought the boy was his son, court records show.
Clayton G. Closser, 37, of Lyle appeared Wednesday in Superior Court on suspicion of unlawful imprisonment stemming from the Monday night incident at Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center. He had cuts to his face and a black, swollen left eye. It’s unclear how or when Closser suffered the injuries.
Deputies were dispatched about 8:15 p.m. to the hospital at 2211 N.E. 139th St., for a possible attempted kidnapping. The grandmother of an 8-year-old boy reported that a man in the emergency room grabbed her grandson. The man, later identified as Closser, repeatedly told the boy to tell people he was his son, according to a probable cause affidavit.
The grandmother told responding deputies that she and her grandson were walking into the ER when Closser grabbed the boy and pulled him into the corner near the check-in desk. She told Closser multiple times to let go of her grandson, but he wouldn’t, the affidavit said.
Eventually, several nurses and people in the ER started yelling at Closser to let go of the boy and get away from him, court records state.
In a tearful interview with deputies, the boy said that Closser grabbed his chest and was almost hugging him. He couldn’t get away, he said, and was “very afraid,” according to court documents.
A nurse told deputies that she found Closser in the hospital parking lot before the incident acting strange. She asked him to come into the ER to have his vitals checked. He was sitting in a chair having that done when he grabbed the boy, the affidavit said.
Deputies later learned that Closser was dropped off at the hospital by a local mental health and addiction treatment provider, where he was going through detox for alcoholism. He was brought to the hospital for hallucinations and needed a psychiatric evaluation, court records state.
Closser told a deputy that his uncle had come to visit him at the hospital with his son. He said he thought his son was stuck under a vehicle outside in the parking lot but then later saw him in the ER. Closser said he didn’t know why people were confronting him, according to court documents.
During his Wednesday hearing, the prosecution said Closser was unable to make his first appearance as scheduled Tuesday because he was too sick.
Judge Robert Lewis appointed attorney David Kurtz to represent Closser. Kurtz argued that Closser was “not of clear mind” when the alleged incident occurred, and said that at worst this should be a fourth-degree assault case, a gross misdemeanor.
Closser’s bail was set at $40,000. He will be arraigned March 16.
