eye for an eye

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - A man held at the state mental hospital gouged out his eyes and flushed one of them down the toilet after being ruled competent to stand trial.

Officials would not identify the man or the charges on which he was being held.

The man used either his fingers or sunglasses to pull out one eye last week and flushed it. After being treated and returned to the state hospital, he gouged out the other eye Wednesday.

After the man pulled out the first eye, his hands were chained to a belt at his waist. But he still managed to lower his head enough to pull out the other eye, said Human Services Department spokesman Joe Quinn.

Two state hospital employees were placed on leave.

"We are now investigating whether or not the orders that were on him were correctly followed," Quinn said. "When he came back, he was supposed to be under constant surveillance by a staff member."