Bangor -
A Penobscot County jail inmate who attempted suicide is now at a psychiatric facility in Augusta.
But not before spend three days in the hospital under guarded watch and costing the county more than $5,000.
Penobscot County Sheriff Glenn Ross says the situation is just another example of the problem with Maine's mental health system.
Ross says 27-year-old Lauren MacArthur of Medway tried to hang himself with a sheet Friday night after a routine bed check.
Other inmates pounded on the cell door to notify jail officers.
MacArthur's charged with aggravated attempted murder, among other counts, after allegedly trying to run over an Orono police officer during a high speed chase in January.
MacArthur was taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor where mental health officials determined he needed to be transferred to Riverview in Augusta.
But no beds were open and state cutbacks mean the Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Center in Bangor is no longer taking patients.
So MacArthur spent three-and-a-half days under guard in the emergency department at a cost of about $1,500 a day in county staffing.
Ross says it's an expensive misuse of taxpayer dollars.
"This is something we've been talking about for ten years. This is something that's not getting any better now with the downsizing of Dorothea Dix again. We're sure that the situation is only going to get worse."
Ross says he was concerned about how long it might take to find a psychiatric bed for MacArthur.
But after a lot of shuffling, MacArthur was transferred to Riverview Tuesday morning.
Ross says a dozen other people are still on the waiting list for the bed the inmate received.
John Martins, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, says the state works hard with jails and mental health officials to find the appropriate places for patients, but sometimes the capacity isn't there.
Riverview has 44 beds deemed for forensic patients.