A 43-year-old woman who had been cursing at staff while waiting for 2 ½ hours in the emergency room at Florida Hospital Waterman in Tavares punched a paramedic escorting her outside and then kicked another paramedic who intervened to help her co-worker, according to an arrest report.
Mistie Rae Howell of Eustis was arrested about 10:30 p.m. Monday and charged with battery on a paramedic/medical personnel.
She was with a juvenile who was being treated in the ER and had been “rude with all members of staff and rude with her son,” the report states.
She continued cursing at staff and a decision was made to escort her from the hospital and have her trespassed, but when paramedic Scott Casta tried to prevent her from re-entering the ER she struck him in the face with a closed fist while apparently holding a cell phone, according to the report.
Another paramedic, Taylor Forst, “attempted to help Scott by restraining the defendant and the defendant then started to kick her in the legs multiple times,” the report states. In a written statement given to Tavares police, Forst said she was also kicked in the stomach and thighs multiple times.
“She was told to calm down,” Forst wrote. “She would not comply.”
Casta also gave a statement to police, writing that his face and back were injured in the altercation.
Howell was being held in the Lake County Jail on $10,000 bond.
jfallstrom@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5444
