Pregnant Tewksbury State Hospital staff member allegedly attacked with chair, Boston man facing charges
A man is facing charges after he allegedly pushed a chair into a pregnant staff member at Tewksbury State Hospital.
Eduardo Cruceta, 27, of Boston is charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault and battery on a public employee.
The charges stem from an incident at the hospital Sunday around 10 a.m.
The Tewksbury Police Department said Cruceta was visiting a family member who was a patient in the hospital. During the visit, Cruceta's family member appeared to suffer a medical episode, police said.
When that happened, police say that Cruceta "began acting erratically and was threatening to kill employees."
Security was not able to remove Cruceta from the hospital room despite several attempts. Cruceta then allegedly pushed a large chair into a pregnant staff member, police said.
Tewksbury police were able to arrest Cruceta without incident. He was arraigned on Monday in Lowell District Court.
A defense attorney for Cruceta said he has no criminal record. She said that Cruceta's brother was having a seizure. The attorney said that Cruceta panicked and was trying to move chairs out of the way.
Cruceta's attorney said the staff member being hit by the chair was, "accidental, incidental contact."
The judge ordered Cruceta released on personal recognizance with the condition that he stay away from the staff member and also remain away from Tewksbury State Hospital.
He is next due in court on May 20 for a pretrial hearing.
Tewksbury State Hospital is a state-run facility with a large mental health patient population.
A 2023 WBZ-TV I-Team investigation found that the Tewksbury Police Department responded to around 1,000 calls per year to the hospital. Following the report, there were major security improvements, and the hospital's public safety officers got training on the use of non-lethal restraints and pepper spray.
The I-Team reported last month, however, that the Massachusetts Department of Health followed through on its controversial plans to take away the pepper spray and non-lethal restraints from the public safety officers.
One registered nurse at the facility called the decision "incredible unsafe and dangerous." Representative David Robertson (D-Tewksbury) told the I-Team that he is frustrated by the change and hopeful that the state will reverse course.
