BARTON COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities arrested a Kansas man for allegedly violating a quarantine order issued by the Barton County Health Department.
On Friday, deputies arrested 32-year-old Tyler Witten in Great Bend after several attempts to get Witten to comply with the order, according to Sheriff Brian Bellendir.
“He was served last week and was uncooperative with the Health Department,” Bellendir says.
“Thursday we had information that he was in violation of the quarantine order causing disturbances around town. On Friday I received a call from the Great Bend Police Department that he was causing a disturbance at another residence in the city. At that time the decision was made to place him (Witten) in jail.”
Bellendir informed Barton County Commissioners of the arrest on Monday. He says it was the last thing that he wanted to do since Witten's presence in the jail could compromise the health of other inmates in the facility.
“We were faced with an impossible decision,” Bellendir said. Do I allow this person to continually run around the community potentially exposing the community to Covid-19, or do I potentially expose my inmates in the jail. I chose to err on the side of the public.”
A quarantine area had already been set up at the jail in anticipation of a possible cases of coronavirus coming into the jail or a person who was considered probable. The Sheriff says the only person having contact with Witten is Health Director Karen Winkelman.
Bellendir says before the decision to jail Witten was made, he had phone conversations with the Health Director, County Attorney and the District Court.
As of Monday, the Sheriff's Office had assisted in delivering 99 isolation and quarantine orders in the county and for the most part he says individuals have been cooperating. As for Witten, the Sheriff indicated that he had been uncooperative throughout the entire process.