Personnel at The Villages Regional Hospital contacted a state agency after a husband brought in his injured wife who is suffering from dementia.
Henry James Smith, 70, of Lady Lake, took his wife to the hospital on Wednesday claiming she had “constipation issues,” according to an arrest report from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. Hospital staff saw the woman had bruises on her face and neck and she was immediately admitted. Staffers contacted the Department of Children and Families and ordered Smith to leave the premises.
The agency had been contacted two weeks earlier by Smith’s wife’s primary care physician when bruises had been discovered on her face, the report noted.
A CAT scan performed at the hospital showed the woman suffered from soft tissue hematoma, inter cranial hemorrhaging and intensive swelling to the scalp and forehead area, the report said.
In an interview Thursday at his home at 40027 Magnolia St., Smith claimed his wife had walked up behind him when he was raking leaves and he accidentally elbowed her in the face. He also claimed some bruises were caused by her “always pinching herself.”
Smith was arrested on charges of battery by strangulation and battery on a person over the age of 65. He was booked at the Lake County Jail on $12,000 bond.
