Wyandotte Hospital security officers assaulted in separate attacks
Wyandotte, Michigan Jan 24 2019
Security officers at Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital, 2333 Biddle Ave., reported being assaulted by patients in two separate and unrelated incidents that occurred one day apart.
The first incident was reported at 3:48 p.m. Jan. 11, when police were told that a hospital security officer was assaulted by a mental patient.
One of the security officers said the attack began after Southgate police dropped off a 31-year-old River Rouge man for a mental evaluation.
The patient was told to get undressed and into a hospital gown. However, the man refused. He and another security officer again told him to change his clothes so he could be seen by a doctor.
The man refused again, this time saying “If you want my clothes off, come take them off yourself.”
The security officer closed the gap between he and the patient and started to take off the man’s clothes. All of a sudden, the man quickly punched him in the face twice. Wyandotte police describe the resultant injury as “a significant right black eye” from the first punch to his face.
Security officers overpowered the man, placing him in restraints and hospital clothing.
The patient told police he wasn’t staying at the hospital and didn’t need to be there. A Wyandotte officer told him if another police agency took him to the hospital for treatment, that’s what he would have to do until hospital staff discharged him.
The police officer told the man that he was there to investigate the assault and battery of the security officer he punched.
“They were like, like all rushing me and stuff and I don’t play that way, so I started swinging,” the man told police.
The man was told he was not under arrest, but a report would be made for the assault and battery.
The second incident occurred at 8:30 pm. Jan. 12, when an assault and battery reportedly took place at the hospital’s emergency room.
A security officer said he was typing a report when he noticed a male patient in the Behavioral Health Unit walk into another patient’s room.
The security officer said he was immediately concerned because they had a previous problem with the patient in the room where the man entered. He another another security officer approached the 30-year-old Lincoln Park man and spoke with him for 5 minutes.
The problem began when the man tried to leave the room, but was unable to do so due to a key access door. That irritated the man, who clenched his fist and rushed the second security officer.
As they were attempting to restrain the man, the first security officer was struck by the man’s elbow, delivering a blow to his sternum.
The security officer said he was unable to breath properly and started to dry heave. He took a step back as he tried to recover.
Two additional security officers arrived and restrained the man on a medical bed. The victim said he wanted to press charges.
The second security officer gave a similar account of what happened, but added that after the patient became enraged over not being able to leave the room, he charged him with clenched fists, striking him in the stomach. That’s when a struggle ensued, and the first security officer took an elbow to his sternum.
Police said that due to the man’s mental status, he was released to hospital staff pending further investigation.
