Patient pulls roommate’s eyes out of his sockets at Broward psychiatric hospital, cops say
news.yahoo.com
Omar Rodríguez Ortiz
Tue, September 26, 2023 at 5:30 AM
A patient at a psychiatric hospital in South Florida brutally beat up a roommate for seven minutes and ripped the man’s eyes out of his sockets — leaving him permanently blind, police said Monday.
“The victim is permanently blind due to his injuries,” Pembroke Pines police spokeswoman Amanda Conwell told the Miami Herald.
At around 4:45 p.m. Friday, Pembroke Pines officers responded to South Florida State Hospital, 800 East Cypress Drive, following a 911 call about an altercation between two patients, authorities said in the suspect’s arrest report. Police noted they weren’t notified until about an hour after the attack, which began at 3:47 p.m., and that hospital staff had begun to clean the crime scene when the facility’s chief of staff told them to stop.
A review of the 350-bed state hospital’s security footage revealed the suspect and his bunkmate, who are both adults court ordered to be at the facility, were involved in an argument over a towel that turned physical, police said. The Herald is not identifying the suspect because of the sensitive nature of the incident.
“The suspect punched the victim in the face and then dragged him onto the ground,” police said in a news release. “Once on the ground, the suspect continued to punch the victim and eventually, the suspect pulled both of the victim’s eyes out of his eye-sockets.”
Police said that another patient walking by saw what was going on and alerted hospital staff approximately seven minutes into the attack. Paramedics arrived at the mental health facility at 4:03 p.m. and took the victim — and his eyes — to Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, where he remained hospitalized as of Monday afternoon.
“It was determined by the hospital that the victim has permanent loss of sight in both eyes and the eyes provided could not be re-attached,” officers wrote in the police report.
The suspect was taken on a charge of aggravated battery to Broward Sheriff’s Office Main Jail on Friday.
Wellpath Recovery Solutions, selected by the Florida Department of Children and Families in 1998 to operate the psychiatric hospital, hadn’t responded to the Herald’s emailed request for comment as of Monday night. DCF didn’t immediately say whether it is investigating the incident.
news.yahoo.com
Omar Rodríguez Ortiz
Tue, September 26, 2023 at 5:30 AM
A patient at a psychiatric hospital in South Florida brutally beat up a roommate for seven minutes and ripped the man’s eyes out of his sockets — leaving him permanently blind, police said Monday.
“The victim is permanently blind due to his injuries,” Pembroke Pines police spokeswoman Amanda Conwell told the Miami Herald.
At around 4:45 p.m. Friday, Pembroke Pines officers responded to South Florida State Hospital, 800 East Cypress Drive, following a 911 call about an altercation between two patients, authorities said in the suspect’s arrest report. Police noted they weren’t notified until about an hour after the attack, which began at 3:47 p.m., and that hospital staff had begun to clean the crime scene when the facility’s chief of staff told them to stop.
A review of the 350-bed state hospital’s security footage revealed the suspect and his bunkmate, who are both adults court ordered to be at the facility, were involved in an argument over a towel that turned physical, police said. The Herald is not identifying the suspect because of the sensitive nature of the incident.
“The suspect punched the victim in the face and then dragged him onto the ground,” police said in a news release. “Once on the ground, the suspect continued to punch the victim and eventually, the suspect pulled both of the victim’s eyes out of his eye-sockets.”
Police said that another patient walking by saw what was going on and alerted hospital staff approximately seven minutes into the attack. Paramedics arrived at the mental health facility at 4:03 p.m. and took the victim — and his eyes — to Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, where he remained hospitalized as of Monday afternoon.
“It was determined by the hospital that the victim has permanent loss of sight in both eyes and the eyes provided could not be re-attached,” officers wrote in the police report.
The suspect was taken on a charge of aggravated battery to Broward Sheriff’s Office Main Jail on Friday.
Wellpath Recovery Solutions, selected by the Florida Department of Children and Families in 1998 to operate the psychiatric hospital, hadn’t responded to the Herald’s emailed request for comment as of Monday night. DCF didn’t immediately say whether it is investigating the incident.
