Kings County Patient Allegedly Attacked Staffers

A nurse's assistant was brutally attacked while tending to a patient at Kings County Hospital—and now another patient is in custody. Robert Rush, who was in the psychiatric unit, was charged with assault for attacking Sandra Douglas and two other people. The Daily News reports that on Tuesday "Rush, who weighs more than 300 pounds, walked into a room where Douglas, 49, was attending to another patient about 5:30 a.m. and clocked her in the head. When she fell, he repeatedly kicked and hit her, witnesses said." Douglas's son, who was at his mother's bedside in intensive care, spoke to staffers about the attack, "He was just beating on her, banging her head on the floor. It took four people to get him off her." On Sunday, Rush also assaulted two staffers who tried to stop him from attacking another patient, but wasn't charged. He also told NY1, "It shouldn't happen. You should be able to go to work and know that there is security in a facility like that." The Health and Hospitals Corporation says it's investigating the incident; Kings County's psych unit is also where patient Esmin Green died in a waiting room, after waiting for over a day to be seen.