BEAUMONT — Another Southeast Texas healthcare worker is allegedly the victim of a violent attack while simply trying to do the job.
A 57-year-old Vidor man is now facing a third-degree felony after Beaumont police say he threw a chair at a registered nurse inside Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas in Beaumont, striking the nurse in the leg.
The arrest marks yet another case involving a patient accused of assaulting hospital personnel in Southeast Texas, adding to a disturbing string of alleged attacks on doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers in recent days.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Beaumont police officers responded to Baptist Hospital on College Street around 1:20 a.m. Tuesday after receiving a call about a disruptive patient.
An off-duty police sergeant working security at the hospital told responding officers that Marvin Gallier Jr., 57, of Vidor, had been screaming, cursing and causing a disturbance inside the hospital.
Investigators say the 23-year-old RN approached Gallier to collect blood samples and asked him to calm down.
Police say Gallier refused.
Instead, according to the affidavit, Gallier allegedly got out of his hospital bed, grabbed a nearby chair and threw it directly at the nurse.
The chair allegedly struck the nurse in the left leg, causing pain.
Investigators say Gallier knew the man was hospital personnel because he was wearing hospital scrubs and a name badge while performing his duties.
Officers arrested Gallier at the scene and booked him into the Jefferson County Correctional Facility on a charge of Assault of Hospital Personnel on Hospital Property, a third-degree felony under Texas law. He could go to prison for up to ten years if convicted.
His bond was set at $5,000, and court records show he has been ordered to have no contact or communication with the alleged victim.
The case comes amid what appears to be an alarming trend of violence against healthcare workers across Southeast Texas, where multiple patients have recently been accused of attacking nurses, doctors and other hospital employees while they were caring for patients.
Healthcare workers have long warned that violence inside hospitals and emergency rooms has become an increasingly common occupational hazard, with many saying assaults have become part of the job despite growing legal protections for medical personnel.
Texas lawmakers approved a bill that was signed into law, making the penalty for attacking hospital personnel the same as attacking a public servant.