Missouri man faces charges after hitting child, hospital security guard with car
Washington MO Sept 3 2021
A Union man is facing criminal charges after he allegedly hit a child and a security guard with a vehicle at Mercy Hospital Washington last month, according to court records.
Cameron F. Barnes, 29, has been charged with second-degree assault, a Class B felony; resisting arrest, a Class E felony; and second-degree child endangerment, a Class A misdemeanor. These charges stem from an incident that occurred Thursday, Aug. 26, in the parking lot and emergency room of Mercy Hospital Washington, according to police.
Washington Police Department Detective Sgt. Steve Sitzes, who is also the department’s public information officer, said the department received a dispatch around 10 p.m. that evening that a man — who was later identified as Barnes — had hit one of his children with his vehicle near the emergency room entrance and was now in the hospital causing “a peace disturbance with the staff.”
As officers were in route to the hospital, dispatch received information that Barnes was attempting to leave the hospital with the children, despite the child struck by the car having an obvious injury to their head and needing medical treatment. Hospital staff were attempting to stop the male subject from leaving, according to Sitzes.
When the first officer arrived on the scene, they found an unidentified Mercy security guard “bent over and pointing in the direction of a vehicle leaving the hospital,” Sitze said in a press release issued Wednesday. The officer pursued the vehicle, which was driving eastbound on Fifth Street and reportedly reaching speeds of 100 miles per hour.
Ultimately, the driver of the vehicle was able to evade police, and the pursing police officer returned to the hospital.
Sitzes said witnesses at the scene reported seeing the driver of the vehicle drive the wrong way onto hospital property, through the emergency room’s entrance, and said that after missing the entrance, the driver stopped and then backed up approximately 50 feet.
Witnesses told police they observed two children exit the vehicle. As the children walked behind the vehicle, the male driver drove backwards and struck the younger child. Witnesses, who were not identified by police in the press release, recalled seeing the child hit his head on the trunk of the vehicle while the other child smacked the trunk yelling at the male driver that they were behind the car.
The male driver then pulled forward, parked the vehicle, and went with the children into the hospital’s emergency room to seek treatment for the younger child that police said had been injured earlier in the day.
Once inside, the male driver — who was later identified as Barnes — became “belligerent and uncooperative with Mercy staff during the check in period,” according to release. It was reported to police that they suspected Barnes to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
When Barnes learned that police were being called for assistance, he began to flee with the children.
According to the release, a security guard then attempted to stop Barnes from leaving and was struck by the fleeing vehicle. The guard suffered an injury to their leg.
As part of their investigation into what transpired at the hospital, officers learned that Barnes was a Union resident. Union police were able to contact him, and he was taken into custody on several active misdemeanor warrants. The two children were taken into protective custody.
Barnes appeared before Associate Circuit Court Judge Stanley Williams in court on Tuesday. In that proceeding, Barnes’ request to modify his bond was denied. He remains in custody at the Franklin County Jail in Union.
