CLEARFIELD, Pa. (GANT) – A West Decatur woman who assaulted a doctor at Penn Highlands DuBois pleaded guilty Monday during sentencing court.
(This article was provided by our News Partner GantDaily.com.)
Police say Terri Patterson, 38, fought with staff before striking a doctor on May 1, 2023, at the facility.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, the doctor told officers that Patterson was yelling obscenities at the staff, and he tried to intervene.
After he told Patterson that harsh language and insults towards the staff “would not be tolerated,” and tried to lead her back into her room, she started “swinging” at him multiple times without making contact.
He got between her and the other staff before Patterson reportedly lunged at him and struck him in the abdomen/leg area.
Once they got her back into her bed, she attempted to strike and bite the employees, but nobody was injured, the doctor said.
Another employee who was watching Patterson before the assault said she was “acting erratic and laughing inappropriately.”
After Patterson yelled that she wanted a “[expletive] drink,” she charged the employee and shoved her in the hallway, she told police.
This is when the doctor and another employee who were coming down the hallway tried to help get Patterson into her room.
Although she didn’t see the doctor get struck because her head was turned, this employee stated she saw from his facial expression that he had been hit.
A third employee said she saw Patterson assault several staff members including the doctor getting punched and another getting kicked, according to the report.
Judge Paul Cherry sentenced Patterson to 11 months to three years in state prison for aggravated assault and harassment.
Cherry noted that he gave her a state prison sentence because her mental health and aggressive behavior will best be dealt with at the state facility.
Currently she is being housed in the Jefferson County Jail on an unrelated case in which she is charged with strangulation, simple assault, and harassment. She waived her right to a preliminary hearing on those charges on April 11.
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