EXCLUSIVE: Arkansas psychiatrist  Brian Hyatt is pictured in mugshot after he was arrested on Medicaid fraud charges - five months after being accused of keeping dozens of patients prisoner

A top psychiatric doctor accused of operating a ‘system of terror’ in a DailyMail.com investigation into his alleged giant Medicaid scam poses in a jail mugshot following his arrest this week.

Dressed in a dark correctional clothing, bearded Brian Hyatt stares resolutely ahead in the photo that shows his height at more than 6ft 6ins.

Hulking Hyatt, 51, was held but released within hours amid accusations of keeping patients ‘prisoner’ in a massive Medicaid fraud – as alleged victims are still coming forward, DailyMail.com can reveal.

The heavily tattooed doctor was nabbed after leaving his $1.6million country club home in the wealthy city of Rogers, Arkansas, and taken to Benton County Sheriff’s Office, where he posed for a mugshot.

His arrest comes five months after he was reported to be under investigation by the Arkansas Attorney General's Office and was subsequently fired from Northwest Medical Center in Springdale.

Dr. Brian Hyatt was arrested on Monday and booked on on two charges of Medicaid fraud at Benton County jail, where he posed for a mugshot obtained by DailyMail.com 

The once-prominent psychiatrist was seen visiting his private clinic in Rogers, Arkansas in July (left) two months after he was fired from Northwest Medical

An arrest warrant was issued on two charges of Medicaid Fraud for offenses alleged to have been committed from January 1 to April 29, 2022 

But according to public records, the 6ft-6in mixed martial arts enthusiast is no longer in custody in Benton County, nor does he appear on a prison inmate search for Pulaski County, where it is understood he was to be transferred for a hearing. 

A copy of the arrest warrant obtained by DailyMail.com shows it was issued with 'no bond' on Friday, citing two charges of Medicaid fraud alleged to have been committed over a period of time from 'at least January 1, 2022 to April 29, 2022.'

The document, which covered the area where Hyatt massively expanded the hospital's Behavioral Health Unit after taking it over in 2018, classifies the charges as Class A felonies due to the amount of 'illegally claimed' payments being more than $25,000. 

It reads: 'Dr. Hyatt was only present on the unit a short time on the days he was scheduled to work. Dr. Hyatt had little to no contact with patients and Dr. Hyatt spent his time walking up and down the floor while pushing a computer on wheels.

'The CI (confidential informant) also expressed concern with physical abuse of patients, the overuse of physical restraints and the use of chemical restraints when patients were not an imminent danger to themselves or others.'

Arrest records show Hyatt was released on Monday and is now scheduled to appear in court later in October. 

Aaron Cash, an attorney fighting for former patients who claim they were held against their will in the unit so Hyatt could claim more Medicaid for them, confirmed to DailyMail.com: 'They released him without making him see a judge or post bond.'

DailyMail.com exclusively revealed in July that more than 100 people have come forward to file civil complaints against Hyatt. 

According to Cash: 'We're still getting people coming forward, although the number of complaints filed is the same, due to timing out for statute of limitations reasons.' 

DailyMail.com's report also disclosed chilling details of the alleged 'system of terror' inside the mental health unit, which included allegations that staff used physical and verbal intimidation to hold patients 'captive' as part of the claimed financial scam.

One alleged example included a middle-aged man who suffered broken ribs when two men, one of them a 6ft 8in former NBA player, body slammed him to the floor after he did not want to be strip searched.

Investigators reviewed surveillance footage that allegedly showed Hyatt interacting with patients just 17 times over a 45-day period, despite filing an abundance of Medicaid claims saying he met with them face-to-face

The Arkansas State Attorney General claims he earned hundreds of thousands of dollars from his Medicaid claims

Hyatt was reported to be under investigation by the Arkansas Attorney General's Office in May and was subsequently fired from Northwest Medical Center in Springdale

Former law enforcement official Clyde Hunnicutt, 53, described the regime inside the unit, saying: 'Hyatt threatened to get me jailed if I didn't agree to be sedated and then have me brought back to him.

'In fact, I would rather have been in the county lock-up and stayed there. But in the end I agreed to the shot,' he told DailyMail.com. 

'It was horrible – I could hardly walk afterwards.

'One time I heard a man a couple of rooms away from me being beaten for calling one of the staff a name. There were sounds of flesh smacking flesh.'

Hunnicutt, from Springdale, was taken into the unit after attempting a drug suicide in February 2021. 

His wife Joy called 911 and he said he was totally compliant when he arrived at the hospital on a Friday. The following day he hoped he could leave as he was feeling better. 

Dr. Hyatt, accompanied by two mental health techs, came into the room he was sharing with another man.

'He was nice to the other guy. But he was definitely not nice to me,' said Hunnicutt, a former adult protective services investigator and ex-probation parole officer.

'He just said, ''I'm putting a 72-hour hold on you''. Then he got another guy alongside the two techs, a big one, really mean who liked to fight. 

'From my previous experience in law enforcement I knew I wasn't going to successfully defend myself against the four of them.

'So I knew it was pointless to fight. I'm a big guy myself but I felt very intimidated at that point.'

He added: 'We went to the 4th floor where they keep the worst of the worst. Dr. Hyatt immediately threatened me with incarceration if I gave his staff any trouble.

'They wanted to give me a shot, I said there is no reason to give me a shot, I'm not being verbally or physically aggressive with anyone. I don't want to take the shot or a chemical restraint. That is used for someone who is out of control.

Hyatt and his wife Angela live in this palatial $1.6million home in a gated community in Rogers, Arkansas, where they drive vehicles valued at more than $270,000 

The warrant was issued with 'no bond' on Friday and classifies the charges as Class A felonies due to the amount of 'illegally claimed' payments being more than $25,000

A diagram included in the affidavit illustrates Hyatt's Medicaid payments were drastically higher than other psychiatrists over a six-month period 

'Dr. Hyatt said if you don't take this shot we're going to make you – and if that happens I am going to ring Springdale police, we are going to have you transported to county jail, you can sit in county for a while and then you can come back.'

Hunnicutt relented and was sedated despite not being told what drug was being used. 

The shot made his eyes roll in the back of his head and he couldn't focus or walk properly. Next day he got another – then a third the following day.

'This was not therapeutic in any way. There was no purpose in me being there. It felt punitive rather than therapeutic,' he told DailyMail.com.

'Eventually I was there 12 days. When I went in I weighed 250lbs, when I came out I was 237lbs, so I lost 13lbs in 12 days.

'I told the doctor I didn't want to be there. I told a social worker I didn't want to be there. At one point I was on the phone discussing hiring an attorney to get me out.

'The staff discovered this and put me on phone restriction. They told me if I didn't ditch the lawyer idea they would take me to court and get a seven-day commit on me, and once that was once they would get a 10-day involuntary commit, then once that was up they would get a 45-day commit on me.

'They said I might make it out by May.

'And so I resolved myself at that point to just fake it till I make it. To stop asking to leave, to stop asking for anxiety pills and to go along to the group therapy sessions – to comply in order to eventually leave.

'They finally released me because I kept my head down. But now I'm traumatized by it. There is my life before that event and there is my life after that event. I'm in therapy, I take a bunch more medications that I used to.'

Hyatt quit as chairman of the Arkansas State Medical Board amid the initial fraud accusations and was 'abruptly terminated' from his position as the hospital unit's medical director. 

Investigators found Hyatt and his staff submitted false Medicaid claims on his behalf 'for a level of care that patients at the BHU were not receiving' 

Hyatt was taken into custody on Monday only to be released shortly after, records show

He is being investigated by Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin over the insurance scam claims and is also facing a federal law enforcement probe.

But a DailyMail.com investigation in July revealed the under-fire psychiatrist was still visiting his private clinic in Rogers, close to the palatial 5,000sq ft home he shares with wife Angela.

His black Mercedes G63 SUV – which start at $180,000 new – could be seen parked outside the office of Pinnacle Premier Psychiatry. 

Meanwhile the couple's other vehicle, a white 2023 BMW 740i costing at least $96,695, was being driven by Angela.

Local sources who spoke to DailyMail.com said Hyatt frequently 'brags' about the blacked out Mercedes.

The couple bought their four bed, five bath home for $869,000 in 2018 when they moved from the Arkansas state capital Little Rock. 

Attorney Aaron Cash (left) is leading former patients' fight against Hyatt and the Northwest Medical Center

According to public records, they had a $781,231 loan, but refinanced in July 2022 borrowing a much reduced $286,000.

Hyatt and the Northwest Medical Center deny any malpractice. 

Under his leadership, the unit bed numbers went from 25 to 75, and Medicaid and Medicare claims rocketed, earning the psychiatrist $1,367 a day, according to an affidavit from Arkansas AG Griffin.

From January 2019 to June 2022, Medicaid paid out more than $800,000 to Hyatt's unit.

Yet state investigators revealed 45 days of surveillance footage from the hospital showed the psychiatrist only entered a patient's room or interacted with one 17 times – for less than a total or 10 minutes.

Attorney Cash previously told DailyMail.com: 'It was like a system, a system to break you down.

'This system of terror and forced sedation suppressed everyone's ability to reach out and speak up. Many of the staff were large men and there was violence.'

Under Arkansas law, patients can be held for 72 hours if they are assessed as a risk to themselves or others. But after that they must consent to stay or there must be a court order detaining them for longer.

Former patient Clyde Hunnicutt, who is being represented by Cash, said he was given unnecessary medication. 'It was horrible – I could hardly walk afterwards,' he said

Former NBA player Isaiah Morris, 54, (left) and one-time colleague Collyn Harlan, 28, have both been charged with felony counts of abuse. They are pictured in their mugshots

Cash maintained patients were forcibly sedated, intimidated, and generally riled by abusive staff into situations that forced them to remain in the unit for up to two weeks – often without any legal authority.

If patients asked to leave they would arbitrarily have days added to their stay, he said. If they tried to summon help by using a public phone in the hallway, there would be repercussions, he added.

'I have met more than 100 former patients and it is striking to me the similarities in their stories,' Cash told DailyMail.com.

'They are all claiming false imprisonment, some are claiming they were assaulted physically – some claim when they asked to leave they were simply injected with a sedative, or threatened with more time.

'Some are alleging staff listened to phone calls and if there were trigger words like 'get me out' or 'attorney' phone access was shut off. And that was the only access to the outside world, because it is a lockdown unit.'

Patients were handled by doctors, nurses and mental health technicians, who are not medically certified. Cash alleged Hyatt surrounded himself in the unit with techs who were intimidatingly large and loyal to him.

'All the patients have told me there was a culture of fear, a culture of aggression where the tech would instigate a fight by poking fun at someone to rile them,' he said.

Hyatt, pictured with his wife Angela and their son in July, lives in a palatial $1.6million country club home in the affluent city of Rogers 

Hyatt, who stands at 6ft, 6in tall, is alleged to have surrounded himself in the unit with techs who were intimidatingly large and loyal to him

'And then in response tackle that person and restrain them, calling for a sedative shot.

'I'm 6ft 3ins and these techs would tower over me and outweigh me by 100lbs. I'd be intimidated. Many of our clients are women and the intimidation factor for them was through the roof.

'For the ones who needed help, they were worse when they got out. For the ones who never had a mental health issue ever, they now have PTSD. These people were not treated, they were assaulted.

'Some even found themselves sedated and taken to the hospital floor where they house prison inmates. So you wake up and find yourself surrounded by prisoners because you asked to leave the unit.'

Of Hyatt's patient visits, Cash said: 'He did see some patients on occasion and when he did he'd have two techs taller than him standing behind him staring at you while he berated you.'

Two 'techs' are facing charges over the alleged body slamming incident in March, 2022.

One is Isaiah Morris, 54, who played 25 games for the Detroit Pistons in the NBA in the early 90s. He was listed during his NBA days as 6ft 8in and weighing 229lb. The other is 28-year-old Collyn Harlan.