BEDFORD, Texas -- An unruly postsurgical patient at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Hurst-Euless-Bedford was hit by a powerful jolt of electricity from a Taser earlier this month, causing him to lose control of his muscles as he was subdued, police said.
In an incident cloaked in patient-privacy secrecy, Bedford police said that at about 6:15 a.m. Dec. 14, an off-duty police officer working at the hospital responded with other employees to a report of a "violent situation."
When the officer arrived, "there had been two hospital employees that had been assaulted" by the patient, said Bedford police Lt. Kirk Roberts. To gain control of the man, the officer "used his Taser to restrain the subject so he could be restrained by the hospital staff."
The officer used a technique called a "drive stun," in which an electric charge is administered but the projectiles of the Taser aren't fired, he said.
A police report shows the patient, who was not named, is accused of assault by contact of two female hospital workers. Roberts said possible charges are under investigation.
A hospital tech who was allegedly assaulted would not discuss details of the incident because she said she was told "this might go to litigation."
Jennifer Erickson, a spokeswoman for the Bedford hospital, said on Tuesday that she was not at liberty to discuss details of the case.
"We believe the objective facts would tell you [that] you kind of have a misunderstanding of what had happened here," she said, declining to elaborate because of privacy laws. "There's a lot of facts to this whole thing."
Erickson released a statement: "This was a licensed police officer who was in the hospital assisting with security. Our assumption was that he did what he believed to be appropriate and correct."
More than 150 people nationally have died because of the devices since 2001, according to Amnesty International.
Read the full story at star-telegram.com
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