{"id":403858,"date":"2026-09-18T19:30:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T19:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/403858\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T19:30:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T19:30:11","slug":"mri-tech-accused-of-sexually-assaulting-medicated-patient-at-florida-hospital-police-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/403858\/","title":{"rendered":"MRI tech accused of sexually assaulting medicated patient at Florida hospital: police"},"content":{"rendered":"

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (TNND) \u2014 A travel MRI technician was arrested after a patient said she was sexually assaulted while undergoing an MRI scan at a Florida hospital, according to authorities. <\/p>\n

The Port St. Lucie Police Department<\/a> on Thursday said 42-year-old Gabriel Cruz was charged with sexual battery, “a first-degree felony, involving a victim who was physically helpless or incapacitated.”<\/p>\n

Police said detectives started investigating on Monday, which was the day after the alleged assault. Staff at HCA Florida St. Lucie Hospital contacted police, saying the patient told them she was sexually assaulted during her MRI.<\/p>\n

The patient had been receiving medical treatment and was given medication before the MRI that made her “significantly drowsy,” authorities said.<\/p>\n

Police then identified Cruz as the technician assigned to perform the MRI. <\/p>\n

\"Gabriel<\/p>\n

Gabriel Cruz (Photo: Brevard County Sheriff’s Office)<\/p>\n

Surveillance video from the MRI area showed the patient entering the MRI room and later being taken toward her hospital room, police said. Investigators said Cruz was later seen leaving the MRI room and discarding materials that detectives recovered.<\/p>\n

“Those materials were secured and processed by PSLPD Crime Scene Investigators,” said police. “Multiple items produced presumptive positive results for the presence of male semen, providing additional evidence as detectives continued working the case.”<\/p>\n

Cruz, who had worked at the hospital as a travel MRI technician since August 24, was arrested on Wednesday. Online booking records with the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office<\/a> show he was released the following day. <\/p>\n

In a statement, HCA Florida St. Lucie Hospital said it does not “tolerate behavior that jeopardizes the safety or security of our patients.”<\/p>\n

“When this serious allegation was reported to us, we contacted law enforcement and ended the individual’s assignment,” according to the statement. “We have assisted law enforcement throughout its investigation and remain focused on supporting our patient.”<\/p>\n

Police said the investigation remains active, as well as urged anyone who has been sexually assaulted to contact authorities immediately. <\/p>\n

“Your report matters and can help law enforcement investigate,” police said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (TNND) \u2014 A travel MRI technician was arrested after a patient said she was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":403859,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171,173,172],"class_list":["post-403858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","tag-port-st-lucie-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403858\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}