A patient at Wilkes-Barre, Pa.-based Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center allegedly ripped the elastic band from his underwear and choked a nursing aide inside a patient room March 30, according to the Times Leader.
Plains Township, Pa., police arrested the 22-year-old patient after hospital security and staff detained him. The aide was in the hospital's emergency room when police arrived at about 9:15 a.m.
The aide told police she was seated in a chair when the patient went into a bathroom, according to the criminal complaint. When the patient returned, he approached the aide and wrapped the elastic band from his underwear twice around her neck, pulling violently.
The aide attempted to stand up, only to be thrown onto a bed before a secretary came in and assisted the aide. The patient was restrained until security arrived.
The patient was arraigned on March 30 on charges of possessing instruments of crime, simple assault, strangulation and recklessly endangering another person. The complaint did not indicate why the man was a patient at Geisinger Wyoming Valley.