A 19-year-old Muslim woman plans to sue after she was attacked by a patient in the lobby of the Beaumont Dearborn emergency room on Feb. 10.
Surveillance footage obtained by local station WDIV shows attacker John Deliz, a recently discharged patient, run up behind the woman and punch her in the head as she checks in at the receptionist’s desk. The victim, who remains unnamed, was at the hospital to be looked at for a possible broken jaw after she fell on ice earlier that day.
“She never saw it coming,” Majed Moughni, the victim’s attorney, said of the attack. “She gets sucker punched. She literally gets knocked out.”
Dearborn police said Deliz was wandering the halls and asking other patients for cigarettes. Hospital security instructed the man to sit and wait in the lobby for a ride home. Moments later, surveillance video shows him attack the young woman as she stood at the front desk.
Moughni said his client is taking legal action against Beaumont Dearborn and is suing for emotional damages, WDIV reported. They are also investigating whether the attack may have been religiously motivated.
The hospital issued the following statement in response to the incident:
“On Feb. 10, a patient in the Beaumont, Dearborn Emergency Center became physically aggressive with another patient in the waiting room. Beaumont security personnel responded immediately and took action to protect the patient and others in the emergency room. Dearborn Police were contacted and Beaumont staff cooperated fully in the investigation. We take pride in our service to this diverse community and want all patients to feel welcome at Beaumont.”
