The death of a patient at Johns Hopkins Hospital in January has been ruled a homicide, CBS News Baltimore reported Nov. 2.
Paul Bertonazzi, 63, died at the Baltimore-based hospital Jan. 12 as a result of trauma to the body.
Mr. Bertonazzi was brought to the hospital Jan. 7 by police officers with crisis intervention training after he became combative and refused their assistance. Authorities say he threatened to harm himself and others before the hospital visit.
Baltimore's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide Nov. 1, and police are investigating the case.
Additional details of Mr. Bertonazzi's death are unclear, though the Office of the Maryland Attorney General has confirmed through body camera footage and surveillance camera footage that Mr. Bertonazzi was not in police custody when he was fatally injured. They will thus not be investigating the incident as an officer-involved death.
"While we cannot discuss any individual patient’s care due to patient privacy laws, we can assure you that we are committed to providing the safest and highest quality of care for all patients," a spokesperson for Johns Hopkins Medicine told Becker's. "We will cooperate fully with the authorities as they proceed with their investigation."