BOSTON (WHDH) - A 37-year-old woman is facing assault charges after police say she violently attacked an EMS captain in Boston just one day after two other EMTs found themselves in a life-and-death struggle with a psychiatric patient.
Troopers conducting a traffic stop on Preble Circle in Southie about 4:25 p.m. Thursday heard a man yelling “get back” and spotted a woman, later identified as Donna A. Taylor, of Boston, trying to push past a Boston EMS captain so she could enter 313 Old Colony Ave. as paramedics were working to render aid to a woman who had been found unresponsive inside, according to state police.
That’s when state police say Taylor pushed the captain “began flailing her arms, striking him in the head and upper body” before the two ended up “struggling in traffic on Old Colony Avenue at Preble Circle.”
Surveillance footage of the incident shows the captain pushing Taylor out of a pizza shop where he responded to a medical call for an unconscious person.
EMS officials say the captain was trying to keep Taylor away from the patient so medical care could continue.
Police also say several people on the sidewalk began filming the assault on their cellphones without trying to help the EMS captain.
Boston EMS officials say this is a dangerous time for them.
“I’d say it is unusual but it doesn’t surprise me,” Boston EMS Chief James Hooley said in a press conference. “Like I said, it is a busy day, it is a busy system and you could get that many in a couple days if you’re having a bad day. In a lot of these cases it’s somebody who has been punched, kicked, bit,” he continued.
Hooley went on to say that many times those perpetrating the attacks on EMS crews do not result in arrests.
Taylor was arrested on charges of assault on ambulance personnel, assault and battery on a person over the age of 60, assault and battery, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and disturbing the peace.
She was also found to be the subject of a Boston Municipal Court warrant charging her with larceny over $1,200 and destruction of property valued under $1,200.
The EMS captain did not seek medical attention.
Taylor was ordered held on $3,000 bail plus a $40 bail clerk fee.
Boston EMS says these assaults are on the rise from last year from 19 to 31.
This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.
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