HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014 11-03 Maplewood police: Patient assaults nurses with metal pole, dies while handcuffed STAR TRIBUNE c StarTribune
Maplewood police: Patient assaults
nurses with metal pole, dies while handcuffed
Article by.PAT PHEIFER
Star Tribune
November 3,2014-5:20 AM
A 68-year-old patient at St.John's Hospital in Maplewood who had attacked and injured four nurses and
fled in hospital clothing died early Sunday after authorities subdued him about three blocks away.
Maplewood Police Chief Paul Schnell said the St. Paul man had been hospitalized since Wednesday,
suffering from bouts of confusion.He had displayed no signs of violence,Schnell said,until he suddenly
began swinging a metal bar at the nurses just before 2 a.m.Sunday
Authorities hope an autopsy on the man,who has not been identified,will help explain how he died and
what led to the events inside the hospital.
"It was a highly violent,immensely aggressive attack,"Schnell said.The man ran after the nurses and
repeatedly swung the bar full force as they tried to flee,the chief said,adding that the entire incident was
caught on hospital security video.
"I saw some of the nurses afterward,"he said."It was frightening."
One nurse suffered a collapsed lung,another a broken wrist and the others had cuts and bruises from
trying to escape,Schnell said.Two remained hospitalized Sunday afternoon,but a hospital spokeswoman
declined to give their conditions. No other patients were injured.
The man fled the hospital with the metal bar,which was described as 3 to 31/2 feet long and about an inch in
diameter.It was used to attach items such as oxygen tanks to a hospital bed.
Schnell said the man was found about three blocks north of the hospital,asking whether the Ramsey
County deputies who confronted him were"the real police."
When the man refused to drop the bar,a deputy fired a Taser at him.But the probes on the stun gun didn't
make contact with the man's body.At the same time,another deputy rushed the man and took him to the
ground,Schnell said.
The man continued to struggle as he was handcuffed by a Maplewood officer,then suddenly went limp,
Schnell said.The handcuffs were removed,and police and paramedics began efforts to revive him. He was
pronounced dead at St.John's Hospital.
"From everything the[man's]family has said,this is not like him at all,"Schnell said."Something medically
occurred.We are certainly hoping to get more answers for the family and everyone."
Two county deputies and one Maplewood officer have been put on standard administrative leave.The
Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension was called in to investigate the incident.
Staff writer Paul Walsh contributed to this report.
Pat Pheifer•952-746-3284