Police Say Tylor Chase Has Declined Repeated Offers for Help in Response to Claims Officials Haven’t Done Enough

Authorities are addressing speculation about their efforts to help Tylor Chase.

After videos emerged revealing that the Ned’s Declassified alum, 36, is experiencing homelessness in California, many have expressed concern for his well-being. Despite attempts to provide resources to Chase by friends Shaun Weiss and Daniel Curtis Lee, as well as a mental health crisis team and police, officials say he has refused to accept any help.

“What we’re seeing play out with Tylor is, unfortunately, something we see every day, not just in Riverside, but across California,” Riverside Police Chief Larry Gonzalez told PEOPLE in a statement on Tuesday, Dec. 30. “From the videos circulating online, it’s clear he is struggling with substance abuse and untreated mental illness. The challenge is that our current mental health system is largely built around personal choice. Even when someone is clearly in crisis, they must voluntarily accept services unless very specific legal thresholds are met.”

“Long before the recent public attention, and continuing since then, outreach teams have been in frequent contact with Tylor and have repeatedly offered services,” Gonzalez continued. “He has come very close to accepting help, but ultimately that final step must be made by the individual, and at this point he has declined those services.”

Regarding suggestions that law enforcement take the former child actor into custody, Gonzalez explains that “arrests for drug possession or being under the influence are only misdemeanor offenses in California,” which would not keep him behind bars for long.

“Those charges are considered non-violent, and due to a federal court order addressing jail overcrowding in Riverside County, individuals are often released quickly without access to treatment, placing them right back where they started,” he said. “The same cycle exists within the mental health system. Without a voluntary commitment or meeting strict legal criteria for involuntary treatment, individuals are released back onto the streets, often without sustained care. It’s a frustrating and heartbreaking cycle that highlights the broader gaps in how we, as a society, address mental health, addiction, and homelessness.”

The statement concluded: “Tylor’s situation is not unique. It reflects what we see every single day among so many individuals experiencing homelessness in our community.”

This statement comes shortly after Weiss elicited the help of Jacob Harris, owner of Shipwreck Barbershop in Riverside, Calif., who facilitated an evaluation of Chase by a mental health crisis team. PEOPLE reported at the time that the workers “agreed that he needed help.”

However, Weiss — who previously experienced homelessness and drug addiction before announcing that he was two years sober in 2022 — revealed in a two-part update posted on Instagram on Monday, Dec. 29, that Chase was not in rehab.

“They took him away in an ambulance, where he was supposed to be kept for a few days, sort of a Baker Act situation,” The Mighty Ducks star said, referring to the Florida Mental Health Act, which allows for involuntary mental health examination and temporary crisis stabilization for individuals with a mental illness who are a danger to themselves or others, or are unable to care for themselves.

“They did not keep him. They released him in the middle of the night,” Weiss continued. “Tylor has to want to go to treatment. All the resources are available to him, and it’s very frustrating because there is no system in place to help people like this, and our only option now is to what? Watch him wither away on the street?”

Weiss, noting that “we’re having a really hard time,” went on to claim that Harris found Chase again in the morning and called the mental health crisis team to conduct another evaluation, but “despite the condition that Tylor was in, they left him on the street.”

In his own Instagram video, Harris explained that Chase had been in a “36-hour medical hold,” during which they were able to get him “clean, detoxed, physically clean.” He also said that a professional rehabilitation coach flew out from Boston to speak with Chase and had his family on the phone, but Chase “was not, at the time, willing to accept help from the rehabilitation coach, although he was very receptive toward the information.”

“So we were able to call another crisis team. They came out and evaluated him. Since he was of sound mind, cleaned up, and not in immediate danger, they weren’t able to take him,” Harris explained, calling on the city of Riverside to “not let [Chase] slip through the cracks” if he comes in again. 

The police rescinded with a statement to PEOPLE that day: “The Riverside Police Department’s Public Safety Engagement Team (PSET) is comprised of officers specially trained to work with individuals experiencing homelessness… The team operates in close coordination with the City of Riverside’s Homeless Outreach services and the Riverside County Department of Behavioral Health.”

It continued, “During their contacts, PSET officers consistently offer available services and resources aimed at connecting individuals with substance abuse treatment, mental health care, and other supportive services. Tylor has been offered these services but has declined assistance thus far. He has remained cordial and cooperative during his interactions with officers.”

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If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.

If you or someone you know needs mental health help, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.