A pregnant Florida nurse said she was assisting her patient when another patient came into the room and shoved her against a wall, resulting in the death of her unborn child.
The alleged attack happened Saturday evening in the behavioral unit at Orlando Health South Seminole Hospital.
The nurse, who was just over eight months pregnant, told Longwood police officers that she was giving her female patient medication when the woman began screaming. A male patient, identified as Joseph Wuerz, suddenly came into the room, shoved the nurse into a wall and tried to kick her, according to an arrest report.
The kicks did not land and Wuerz didn't say anything during the attack, the nurse told officers. Several staff members and security officers had to pull Wuerz from the room.
The nurse said she was "terrified and shocked and unsure about injury to her or the unborn child," the arrest report states. She later went to another hospital to be checked out of concern for her baby. It was at the hospital that she was told that doctors could not find a heartbeat and the baby had died, according to the arrest report.
The nurse told officers that doctors would have to induce labor. She said she believes "the stress she was under during the attack may have caused her unborn child's death," noting that she and the baby did not have any prior medical issues, police wrote in the report.
A spokesperson for Orlando Health South Seminole Hospital said they are aware of the incident and are cooperating with the police investigation.
Wuerz, 53, of Casselberry, was released from the hospital and taken to jail on charges of aggravated battery on a pregnant woman, aggravated battery on a medical worker and homicide of an unborn child. He's being held on bonds totaling $90,000.
An attorney for Wuerz did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.