PHILADELPHIA -- A graduate student was assaulted and threatened next door to Hahnemann University Hospital, NBC 10 News reported Wednesday. Police said they were still searching for the attacker. The 25-year-old woman walked into the hospital's emergency room after she was allegedly attacked by a stranger inside Drexel Medical School.

Police said the attack happened around 5:30 p.m. on the building's eighth floor. Officers said the man came up behind the woman and attacked her with a pair of scissors. She apparently fought off her attacker and ran. A doctor inside Hahnemann responded to the woman's cries for help. The attacker was chased from the scene. The woman suffered superficial stab wounds and bruises to her face. She was listed in good condition. Detectives checked security cameras for evidence of how the attacker got into a supposedly secure medical school. The police department special victim's unit was also called in to talk to the victim. Officers did not say there was evidence the woman was sexually assaulted. The woman described the attacker as a short, heavy-set black man with a shaved head and a goatee.

Reading Police Puzzle Over Murder Of Nursing School Grad

Leidy Bonanno Strangled With Telephone Cord

POSTED: 8:23 p.m. EDT July 15, 2003

UPDATED: 9:14 p.m. EDT July 15, 2003

READING, Pa. -- Reading police are puzzling over a murder mystery in which a recent nursing school graduate was strangled with a telephone cord in her apartment. The parents of Leidy Sheeder Bonanno desperately want the person that killed their daughter behind bars. The Berks County tip line is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the capture of Bonanno's killer and her parents have stepped in and are matching that figure. Bonnano, 21, had just graduated from the Reading School of Nursing last month and was excited about her new career. Last Tuesday, police found her dead inside of her apartment.

"We believe that probably people in West Reading can help the police in this matter and our family would be eternally grateful if someone would call this tip line," said Kathleen Sheeder, Bonanno's mother. Anyone with information about the murder of Bonanno, can call the Berks County tip line at 877-373-9913. The caller can remain anonymous.

Grad Student Assaulted At Hahnemann Hospital

Attack Reportedly Involved Sharp Object

POSTED: 7:16 pm EST November 17, 2004

UPDATED: 7:47 pm EST November 17, 2004

PHILADELPHIA -- Philadelphia police said there was an assault early Wednesday night on the eighth floor of Hahnemann University Hospital, located at Broad and Vine streets. Authorities report that a female grad student was attacked with a sharp object, possibly a pair of scissors. She was treated in the hospital's emergency room.

Police are looking for a suspect they said got away. Investigators said he is a bald, African-American man with a mustache.

Charges Reduced For Man Accused In Library Attack

Girl, 8, Spent Week In Hospital

POSTED: 4:24 pm EST February 17, 2004

UPDATED: 4:48 pm EST February 17, 2004

PHILADELPHIA -- Brian McCutchen faces a different first-degree felony charge after a hearing Tuesday. arrest made library attack

After he waived his preliminary hearing, the prosecutor reduced the rape charge to attempted rape. He is accused of attacking an 8-year-old girl in the bathroom of a Center City library. Assistant District Attorney Deborah Harley said that the girl was released from the hospital Friday after being beaten and sexually assaulted in the girls' restroom inside the Free Library more than a week ago.

McCutchen cried in court as the judge read the charges against him. Public defender Everett Gillison said McCutchen, a homeless man, has a history of schizophrenia and depression and the he is also a victim. Gillison said McCutchen is due in court next month after another man allegedly robbed and assaulted him. Gillison wouldn't say if he would pursue a mental illness defense. The prosecutor is already gearing up for a fight over McCutchen's previous history. He served a year in prison for an attack on a 9-year-old girl in 2000. The prosecutor is still waiting for DNA test results. Harley said that McCutchen could spend up to 85 years in prison if convicted on all charges.

Police Suspect Employee In Assault On Medical Student

Surgical Mask, Scissors Found At Crime Scene

POSTED: 4:26 pm EST November 18, 2004

UPDATED: 5:20 pm EST November 18, 2004

PHILADELPHIA -- Police are uncovering more information about an attack on a grad student at the Drexel College of Medicine at Hahnemann Hospital Wednesday. Police sources said that the suspect might be an employee. "Security was beefed up in the last two years. That person must (have) known the hospital to (get inside), but that's hard," said Olga Kweku, a nursing student.

At around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, the 25-year-old female student was on 8th floor in a lab doing research when a man approached her from behind. According to police, the suspect threw the victim to the ground by her throat and threatened to kill her. Police said she received a few cuts from scissors as she fought off the suspect, who fled when a doctor responded to her screams. NBC 10 News has learned that detectives recovered a glove, scissors and a surgical mask from the crime scene. Police said they are looking for an African-American male, 20 to 40 years old, 5 feet 7 inches tall, medium complexion, 180 to 200 pounds, wearing a green sweatshirt and brown construction pants. School officials declined an on-camera interview, but released a statement saying they are cooperating with police.

Teens Arrested In Alleged Rape Of Mentally Challenged Woman

Girl Says She Was Attacked After Trip To Movie Theatre

POSTED: 5:59 pm EDT June 23, 2004

UPDATED: 7:16 pm EDT June 23, 2004

Two Philadelphia teens are under arrest, charged with allegedly gang-raping an 18-year-old mentally challenged woman. Police have arrested a 15-year-old and a 16-year-old in the alleged crime. A third suspect is still on the loose. According to investigators, the alleged victim went to the RiverView Plaza Theater in south Philadelphia Monday night with a girlfriend. After the movie, the girl and her friend separated. Then the alleged victim met the three boys, who she knows from school. They walked to a house on Christian Street where the girl said she was sexually assaulted.

"After the movie was over, they went home, they were on their way home. They stopped at the male's house. When they were in this male's house, the female was not permitted to leave. She was then sexually assaulted by the three males that she had been with earlier in the evening," said Capt. Charles Bloom of the Philadelphia Police Department's special victims' unit. The girl then ran home and told her parents what had happened. They took her to the hospital. On the way home, the girl recognized the house where she said she had been assaulted. "Basically, on their way back from the hospital they passed the location -- she recognizes the location where it took place. And based on that, the person living in that house was arrested," Bloom said. Once a search warrant was obtained for a house on the 400 block of Christian Street, the pieces of the crime started to fall in place, police said. Because the school was a common denominator between the victim and attackers, there were quick identifications and arrests followed. "We have two suspects in custody who have been charged. We have a tentative ID on a third, but there still more investigative work has to be done before we make a positive identification," Bloom said.

Hospital Patients Accused Of Raping Another Patient

POSTED: 3:53 pm EST December 27, 2003

PHILADELPHIA -- Two hospital patients are under arrest after allegations of rape at a Philadelphia hospital, NBC 10 reported. An 18-year old patient at Einstein Medical Center said she was raped by two other patients at the hospital, authorities said. All three were in the hospital's psychiatric ward. The attacks allegedly happened on Christmas Eve.

Nurses called police that night to report the alleged sexual assault of a patient. The male patients admitted to having sex with the teenager, but claimed it was consensual, authorities said.

Nurse murder horror shocks France

One worker decapitated, other had throat slit

Monday, December 20, 2004 Posted: 3:49 AM EST (0849 GMT) Monday, December 20, 2004 Posted: 3:49 AM EST (0849 GMT)

PARIS, France (AP) -- France's health minister is calling for hospitals and police to work more closely after two hospital nurses were found slain -- one decapitated and the other with her throat slit -- at a psychiatric facility.

The killings in the idyllic southwestern town of Pau shocked France, and hospitals across the country were to observe a moment of silence Monday to honor the two murdered women.

Investigators released five men who had been brought in the day before for questioning -- one of them a former hospital patient who the media had said was the prime suspect.

State prosecutor Eric Maurel denied that, telling The Associated Press that "no evidence has been found against him at this stage."

The two nurses were aged 40 and 48, both married and mothers of children.

Their bodies were found at daybreak Saturday in the hospital's geriatric ward, where a shattered window indicated a possible break-in, Maurel said.

The men who were questioned ranged from 30 to 40 years old and were drunk when arrested, Maurel said. One of them had called police the night before the bodies were found with "information about a violent scenario," Maurel said. He and three others at his home were questioned.

A judicial probe was to be opened early in the week, he said.

Health Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy held an urgent meeting Sunday with health workers and Interior Ministry officials, the Health Ministry said.

"All emergency services, but also psychiatric services, must be linked directly to police stations," Douste-Blazy told reporters after the meeting.

Union leaders faulted a staff and funding shortage. They said security had been a problem for months, dozens of jobs were to be cut, and violence at the hospital was a common occurrence.

"It is horror, terror, fear, disgust -- fear of returning to work," Cathy Sanders, a regional official from Worker's Front union, told RTL radio. "Last night, the staff was doubled" as a precaution, she said.

A front-page headline on Sunday newspaper Journal du Dimanche read: "Scenes of hospital horror."

Pau is known as a charming town of sunny skies, gardens and palm trees, nestled at the foot of the Pyrenees. As the birthplace of Henri IV, this year-round tourist destination is as popular among history buffs as it is among winter sports enthusiasts.

Douste-Blazy said last week that he would present a mental health reform package by March.

Mississippi Hospital Shooting Leaves One Dead

UPDATED: 7:58 PM EST January 9, 2005

MERIDIAN, Miss. -- Gunfire inside a Mississippi hospital Sunday killed one person, and authorities said they've taken two suspects into custody. Meridian Police Chief Benny Dubose said one suspect was caught at the hospital, and the other turned himself in to authorities at about 5 p.m. He said they were to be held overnight at the Lauderdale County Jail and are expected to be charged Monday. Dubose declined to release the names or ages of the suspects or the victims.

Rush Foundation Hospital in downtown Meridian reopened Sunday evening. Police closed the building for several hours while they searched for the suspected gunman. The shooting was reported at about 11:30 a.m. -- about five hours after a domestic incident at a Meridian house, police said. Dubose said that about 6 a.m., a woman was found shot and a man was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the house in an apparent murder-suicide attempt. Both were taken to Rush Hospital. Dubose said the two suspects arrived at the hospital at 11:19 a.m. He said one of the suspects is the son of the woman who was wounded in the morning shooting -- and that the man killed in the hospital shooting was the son of the man with the self-inflicted wound. Dubose said the injuries suffered by the man and woman are not considered life-threatening.

Scruggs settles with Mississippi hospital over charity care

JACKSON, Miss. Attorney Richard Scruggs announced today that he has reached a settlement with Tupelo-based North Mississippi Health Services, saying the health care system will provide free care to poor, uninsured patients.

Scruggs, who made millions leading the fight against tobacco companies in the 1990s, has sued 40 health care systems and nearly 350 affiliate hospitals in 21 states. They include Ochsner Clinic Foundation in New Orleans. He says the settlement set a precedent and should open the door for negotiations with other hospital systems. Scruggs says many of the nonprofit hospitals -- which make up about 85 percent of the hospitals in the United States -- charge uninsured patients more for procedures than they charge insurance companies, Medicaid or Medicare for the same care. The lawsuits represent only one side of a legal argument. Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Parma Gynecologist Found Guilty Of Rape

Dr. Azzam Ahmed Faces 51 Charges

UPDATED: 5:26 pm EST February 11, 2004

CLEVELAND -- A jury found a Parma obstetrician and gynecologist guilty of rape and sexually abusing his patients in the examining room.

Video

Dr. Azzam Ahmed was found guilty of two rapes, 11 sexual impostions and seven sexual batteries, NewsChannel5 reported. He was acquitted of 33 counts of sexual battery and sexual imposition. The judge asked Ahmed if he had anything to say. Ahmed still said he is not guilty.

The verdict from a jury of eight women and four men came in the fifth day of deliberations. For more than two weeks, dozens of Ahmed's former patients gave graphic testimony, accusing him of inappropriate touching and sexual comments during their examinations, WEWS reported. One woman contradicted her own story of rape. Ahmed has been in practice for 25 years and has additional offices in Twinsburg and Newbury. He also has privileges at several hospitals throughout northeast Ohio. His sentencing is scheduled for Thursday, when his victims will be able to make a statement. He faces three to 10 years for rape; one to five years for sexual battery and up to 60 days for each misdemeanor sexual imposition count.

Cable Man Charged With Raping Customer's Daughter

Mother Alleges Repairman Raped Daughter During Service Call

POSTED: 12:07 pm EDT August 19, 2004

UPDATED: 4:45 pm EDT August 19, 2004

HOUSTON -- A cable repairman accused of raping a 13-year-old girl while working in her southeast Houston home was arrested Thursday, police told Local 2.

Video

Relatives Relieved To Hear Of Cable Man's Arrest

Douglas Alberto Sanchez, 25, was arrested around 7 a.m. and charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child. His bond was set at $100,000. Formal charges were filed against Sanchez Wednesday after the District Attorney's Office reviewed all of the evidence. The girl's mother said the Instant Communications employee, subcontracted by Time Warner Cable, raped her daughter during a service call July 20 to their home in the 14000 block of Zenith. "I just could not believe that the cable man raped my child," the mother told Local 2. The girl's mother said the attack happened when Sanchez asked her daughter to help him pull cables in the family's back yard. The girl was home alone with a younger sister when the attack occurred at 7 p.m. "She is destroyed. She is terrified," the girl's mother said. Company officials confirmed that Sanchez returned to the home the next day to finish the repair, but told Local 2 the day after the allegations were made that the accusations were false. A police officer questioned Sanchez at his home the day after the allegations surfaced, but he was not arrested. Douglas Sanchez

"He did come in on a voluntary basis. He gave a statement at that time and denied all allegations," a police department spokeswoman said. Investigators said they had not received a written statement from the girl, which was needed for an arrest. However, she had a panic attack when he returned to the house to finish the repair, so she was taken back to the hospital. A rape kit test was performed. Carrie Milbank, a spokeswoman for Time Warner Cable, released a statement Thursday. "We require our contractors to uphold the same high standards of personal conduct to which we hold our own employees. The contracting company has puts its employee on a leave of absence, pending the resolutions of the allegations. As this is a police matter, it would be inappropriate for us to comment further," the statement read. Sanchez has worked for Instant Communications for the past three months. A spokesman said he is married with three children. He has no previous criminal history. If convicted of the charge, he faces five to 99 years in prison.

Male Nurse Accused Of Raping Elderly Patient

Police Say Nurse Confessed To Attack

POSTED: 4:23 pm EST March 14, 2006

UPDATED: 4:54 pm EST March 14, 2006

FOUNTAIN HILL, Pa. -- A local nurse has been accused of raping an elderly patient in a hospital room. The attack happened at St. Luke's Hospital in Fountain Hill. A hospital official told NBC 10 News that she is appalled and furious at what she called "a violation of trust." Investigators said the male nurse, William Webster, admitted to assaulting an unconscious 75-year-old patient on Sunday night. Webster, 28, has been charged with rape and assault. According to court documents, a coworker spotted Williams performing what hospital officials called "suspicious actions." Court documents said Webster confessed to police. A hospital representative said Webster told them he had not harmed any other patients. Webster is being held on $250,000 bail. Hospital officials said Webster was fired immediately and they were in the process of notifying medical licensing agents about the charges against Webster.

Hospital Worker Charged With Raping Patient

Alleged Victim Says Attacker Originally Transported Her To Room

POSTED: 4:47 pm EDT September 26, 2005

UPDATED: 9:39 am EDT September 27, 2005

PHILADELPHIA -- An employee of Mercy Hospital in southwest Philadelphia is being charged with raping a patient.

Video: Technician Charged In Rape Police have confirmed that they arrested emergency room technician Christopher Summers, 32, of Philadelphia. "No one came to her aid. She's pulling the cord and no one came, no one called, no one did anything," said Kerneisha Boyd, the alleged victim's relative. The 23-year-old victim said that she wanted to tell NBC 10 News her story, but the hospital refused to let NBC 10's cameras inside. She said that she had seen Summers a couple of times over the last five months when she went to the hospital to be treated for sickle cell anemia. She said that when she checked in last week, Summers transported her to her room. The woman said she woke up early Sunday morning and found him on top of her. "She tried to run. She tried to run into the bathroom and get away from him. She tried to pull on the nurses' cord. He hit her over the head with something," Boyd said. The woman said she was able to pull an emergency cord on her bed, but the alleged rapist ripped the cord out. Finally, when she was screaming for help, her attacker ran out of the room. "She could have been dead. He could raped her and smothered her, raped her and strangled her. They wouldn't have known anything," Boyd said. Summers was arrested at his home on Wynnewood Road. Sources say that Summers does not have a record. He is being held on charges of rape, indecent assault, unlawful restraint and false imprisonment. Mercy Hospital officials have refused to comment, so far.

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Man Stabs Student With Scissors