A homeless woman who wanted narcotics was arrested in an attack on medical personnel at UF Health The Villages Hospital.
Sumter County sheriff’s deputies were called to the hospital at about 8:30 a.m. Sunday after 57-year-old Krystal Lynn Barnett walked into a hallway and told a nurse, “Bitch, get this IV out of my arm.” Barnett was told that she would have to wait her turn. That apparently infuriated Barnett, who threatened to “rip out” the nurse’s hair. Barnett lunged at the nurse, but a security guard stepped in to stop the attack. The nurse went into another patient’s room and shut the door.
Barnett had arrived at the hospital claiming she was in pain and said she wanted narcotics. When a staffer offered Barnett medicine, Barnett demanded to know the name of the medication. When Barnett realized it was not the narcotic she wanted, she “became angry” and hit the staffer’s hand, knocking the medication from a table. That staffer called for security and the guard arrived in time to break up the second altercation.
Barnett was arrested on charges of battery and simple assault. She was booked at the Sumter County Detention Center on $6,000 bond.
