A Florida man accused of brutally assaulting a nurse, reportedly breaking nearly every bone in her face, is now facing a hate crime enhancement to his felony charge, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office announced on Thursday.
Stephen Scantlebury, 33, was initially charged earlier this week with the attempted second-degree murder of an unnamed Palms West Hospital nurse assigned to his care, according to a criminal complaint obtained by HuffPost. The nurse, 67, survived the assault, but authorities say she is likely to lose the use of both of her eyes.
One witness, whose relationship to Scantlebury is unknown, told police he had been acting paranoid in the days leading up to the assault, “blaming people in his life for events they had nothing to do with,” according to the complaint.
Scantlebury was reportedly admitted into the hospital under Florida’s Baker Act, which allows families to treat a loved one during an emergency mental health crisis by calling authorities to involuntarily detain them at a hospital for evaluation.
Palms West Hospital is, however, not a Baker Act receiving facility, which led the victim’s daughter to question why the man was placed there.
The hospital’s parent company, HCA Florida, told HuffPost in an email that it could not discuss specific cases due to patient privacy laws.
However, the company stated that if “a patient comes to the hospital for a medical condition (i.e. the flu, a broken bone, chest pains) and starts to exhibit signs or certain behaviors, a mental health assessment is performed to determine if the patient qualifies for a Baker Act designation.”
Multiple witnesses told police that on Tuesday, Scantlebury jumped onto the nurse and began attacking her when she entered the room, according to the complaint. One of the witnesses ran out of the room to call hospital security, but when help arrived, Scantlebury was allegedly still on top of his victim, hitting her with his fist.
Detectives told NBC affiliate WPTV that Scantlebury made comments about the victim’s ethnicity during the attack, which is what led to the hate crime enhancement.
Scantlebury stopped his assault and fled after a witness yelled at him, police said in the complaint. He managed to escape the hospital and ran into traffic, where he was taken into custody by the sheriff’s department.
A public defender assigned to Scantlebury’s defense did not immediately respond when reached by HuffPost. On Thursday, the court ordered him to have a psychiatric evaluation.
Due to the gravity of the nurse’s injuries, she was airlifted to another hospital in critical condition, according to the complaint. Medical staff said “essentially every bone” in her face was broken and she would likely lose the use of both her eyes.
“The attack on our nursing colleague happened within a matter of seconds and was witnessed by multiple people who came to assist,” HCA Florida said in its statement to HuffPost.
The company also stated, “Our primary concern is with our beloved colleague and we are praying for her recovery,” adding that it is “providing support to our hospital staff who are understandably shaken by this incident.”
The victim’s daughter, who is a doctor herself and asked to be identified only as Cindy, told WPBF she was surprised by the extent of her mother’s injuries, saying security “could have intervened sooner.”
“She has multiple fractures of the orbit, subarachnoid and subdural bleeding in the brain, a clavicle fracture, swollen eyes, bruises on both eyes and her face,” she told the outlet of her mother’s condition. “It looks like more than just one blow — it was several blows. It was pretty intense. ”
The daughter questioned how Scantlebury was able to escape the facility.
“This guy was on the third floor. He escaped the hospital. He was on the road! Like, where was security in all of this?” she asked.
Her mother is scheduled for several surgeries.
