ORANGE PARK, Fla. – A brutal patient-on-patient attack at Orange Park Medical Center left a woman fighting for her life Thursday.
The attack happened a little after 2 a.m. Thursday on the second floor of the hospital, when investigators say one patient walked into the room of another patient and beat her in the head.
Not a lot of people wanted to talk about the incident, but News4Jax did learn the woman had to go to intensive care after the beating, and the alleged attacker, 21-year-old Isaac Crowder (pictured), was found with blood on his hands, which investigators said came from him beating the woman repeatedly. Police eventually had to use a Taser to take Crowder into custody. He was arrested and charged with felony battery and resisting arrest without violence.
The report from the Clay County Sheriff's Office said, "Isaac went into the room where the victim... was located and started hitting her on the face and head area."
The report also said nurses saw Crowder wandering the second floor around 2 a.m. and told him to go back to his bed. It's unclear what the motive for the attack might have been or if it was random.
News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith said as far as crimes at hospitals go, a patient-on-patient attack is unusual but dangerously easy to do.
"I think the last time I heard of that was maybe six or seven years ago," Smith said. "It doesn't happen very often, but it does happen. In many cases, security will intervene before the attack takes place, but this time for some reason, he was able to get through.
"It's not hard to do because they're both on same floor, so he can just go from his room straight to her room, and this time it went undetected. Now many hospitals have security monitors in rooms where they're monitoring all the halls and everything."
At Crowder's listed address in Middleburg, his stepmother answered the door. She wouldn't say much other than she was surprised he would be involved in this case.
Crowder also works as a server at the Red Lobster in Orange Park. Neither the workers nor the manager knew why he didn't show up for work and were surprised when News4Jax told them the reason. They said he is a very nice guy.
The female victim lives on the Westside, where a friend has been watching her one child. That friend also did not want to comment on the attack.
Orange Park Medical Center issued this brief statement: "Unfortunately we're unable to comment, due to patient privacy regulations."
Smith said most hospitals have a monitor room that tracks security cameras throughout the facility as well as trained security teams -- sometimes armed, sometimes unarmed -- to track any threats to patients.
Smith said typically police and security are heaviest around emergency rooms and areas where patients have mental health issues.
Smith said if you're concerned about a loved one's safety, speak up.
"Let the hospital know about it," Smith said. "Let them know at the desk that you're concerned about your person. Maybe they can move them to a different room, or if possible try to get your person that you're concerned about moved to a room that's closer to the desk, the nurse's station. That way they may be able to keep a better eye on that way."
News4Jax contacted all major hospitals in the area about how they handle security. The only hospital to respond was UF Health, which provided this statement: "We have a well-trained security team that oversees the clinical center, parking lots and garages and the entire campus. Our security personnel are visible throughout the main hospital."