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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014 11-05 Man attacks nurses, dies in police custody in bizarre Maplewood case MAPLEWOOD REVIEW Man attacks nurses, dies in police custody in bizarre Maplewood case Holly Wenzel tr managing editor p A St.Paul man is dead, four hospital staffers are injured and three law- enforcement officers are on leave after the man fought his way out of St. John's Hospital in Maple- wood in the early hours Nov.2. Combative, immune to Taser According to police iepurts,68-year-old Charles Logan Sr.had been admit- ted to the hospital due to "episodes of confusion." Maplewood police were called at 1:56 a.m. Sun- day after Logan report- edly wrested a metal bar off equipment in his room,used it to beat his way past nursing staff and eaexpe4 into a resi- dential area the hospital. see Attack on page 8 Attack/Man fled into neighborhood before apprehension NOV 0 5 2014 continued from page 1 ics on the scene administered CPR, pital, not attacking other patients. been put on the standard administra- Schnell said. Maplewood Fire Depart- "It remains unclear what prompted tive leave in accordance with policy. Maplewood police and two Ramsey ment paramedics arrived and trans- the attack on nursing staff," he said. County Sheriff's Department depu ported Logan back to St. John's, "Those familiar with Mr. Logan A position on the front lines? ties located Logan three blocks north where he was later pronounced dead. described a very recent change in Schnell said it was very fortunate staff of the hospital, still wielding the bar which he became confused and peri- members were not injured more severely, and reportedly combative. "Deputies `Uncharacteristic' of man odically delusional. given the violence of the attack. directed the man to drop the bar and The four nurses injured are a "Nothing in Mr. Logan's past or In June, 2012, a Wisconsin man he refused to comply," Maplewood 40-year-old woman from Wyoming, more recent history indicates a ten- attacked his pregnant girlfriend in a Police Chief Paul Schnell said. "Depu- a 22-year-old from Brooklyn Park, dency toward violence." hospital room at St. John's, beating a ties attempted to use a Taser device to a 32-year-old from Lino Lakes and The Ramsey County Medical Exam- doctor who tried to intervene with his stop the man's advance with the metal a 30-year-old woman from Hudson, iner's Office is conducting an autopsy. fists and attacking a nurse who tried bar. The Taser was not effective." Wisconsin. According to Schnell, The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal to help the doctor. The man left the Deputies "ultimately" forced the one of them suffered a collapsed lung Apprehension has been called in to hospital only after punching an aide man to the ground and a Maplewood in the attack; others have cuts and interview officers, victims and wit- multiple times in the face and head. officer handcuffed him. bruises. None of the injuries are life- nesses and to review video from secu- The patient's baby was delivered Moments later the man became threatening, he said. rity cameras and squad vehicles. via emergency C-section and two unresponsive. Schnell added that Logan's actions Two Ramsey County deputies and of the medical professionals were The deputies and police paramed seemed to focus on escaping the hos- one Maplewood police officer have treated at St.John's emergency room.