A Lansdale man is facing charges after he allegedly struck a nurse and security guard with a mop handle during an incident in the emergency room last month.
Jose Ortiz Leiva, 42, has been charged with felony aggravated assault along with misdemeanor counts of simple assault, possessing an instrument of crime and summary harassment, following an investigation by the Hatfield Township Police Department.
Ortiz Leiva is current in custody at county jail on a probation detainer.
Police were dispatched to the hospital at 8:49 p.m. on July 7 for a report of a patient assaulting hospital staff. Arriving police found Ortiz Leiva lying on the ground in the middle of the emergency room, at which point police placed him in handcuffs and walked him back to his bed, according to charging documents.
Investigators spoke with the hospital staff, who said Ortiz Leiva was yelling and refusing to take medications, the report states. He then allegedly grabbed a mop handle and jammed it into a nurse’s back, then chased a security guard around the emergency room before striking them in the head with the handle.
Both the nurse and security guard were treated on scene by hospital staff, police said.
Ortiz Leiva was officially charged on July 11, court records show. His next court appearance is a preliminary hearing on Aug. 8 at 9:45 a.m. in front of District Judge Andrea Duffy.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using court records and the affidavit of probable cause.
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