INDIANAPOLIS — A Georgia man has a warrant out for his arrest in Indiana after he was found passed out at an airport bar, then taken to an area hospital where he allegedly attacked police officers.
Cristopher Hale, 45, of Thomasville, Georgia has a felony warrant out for his arrest in Indiana for one count of disarming a law enforcement officer.
According to recently released court documents, around 12:20 p.m. on Saturday, July 6 an officer employed by Eskenazi Health was conducting a patrol of the emergency room when they saw EMS and airport police bring in an individual, later identified as Hale, that had been placed on emergency detention.
The original police report shows officers were dispatched to an assist EMS run at the Indianapolis International Airport around 11:10 a.m.
In court documents, the Eskenazi Health officer reportedly saw Hale brought in on a medical cot with his hands behind his back in handcuffs and his feet tied to the end of the cot.
Court documents say that while he was at the airport, Hale was reportedly denied access to his flight because he was intoxicated. At that time, Hale allegedly became combative with police officers and refused to leave the airport. When he was placed on emergency detention and transported to Eskenazi, he allegedly made "multiple" threats to the EMS crew.
While at the hospital, court documents say that Hale made multiple demands to officers to remove his handcuffs. Hale was allegedly told by police that his cuffs would be removed when they got to his assigned treatment room.
Hospital policy states that all patients must be wearing a hospital gown. When police attempted to explain this policy to Hale, Hale allegedly paused for a moment before telling the officers "no."
The officer reportedly told Hale the longer he refused, the longer he would be at the hospital, to which Hale allegedly replied with "okay."
Eventually, court documents say officers attempted to remove Hale's shirt to put him in the hospital gown. That's when Hale allegedly became angry and began shouting "(Expletive) you, get off me!"
Court documents say a brief struggle then began between Hale and police. Hale allegedly attempted to pull officers' hands off his wrists. Officers then allegedly pushed Hale back onto the bed, after which Hale allegedly sat up on the bed and told police "let's go, mother (expletive)" while trying to stand up.
As officers pushed Hale back onto the hospital bed, he continued to refuse to put on the hospital gown.
While being restrained, court documents say Hale began kicking at officers and thrashing his body around. Hale then allegedly twisted his body violently, grabbed one of the officers' wrists and screamed "I'm going to twist your head off! I'm going to kill you (expletive)!"
Court documents say that after that outburst, Hale again twisted his body and began to reach for an officer's firearm. Hale allegedly began pulling on the officer's holster and was then hit by the officer in the mouth. Court documents say the officer struck Hale in the mouth three times with his elbow because the officer "feared for his safety."
Eventually, Hale was restrained by officers and medical personnel began treating him. Court documents say Hale was given four stitches to his upper lip and had bruising on his jawline, but was otherwise uninjured in the fracas.
As officers continued to investigate, they learned that while at the airport, Hale had passed at drunk at the Harry and Izzy's restaurant. He was found drooling on himself before being woken up by medics and was then refused entry to his flight. Airport police believed Hale was on his way to a recovery facility prior to getting drunk.
Court documents say the investigating officer was given the number of the recovery center that might have been Hale's destination by airport police. The officer then called the recovery center and after initially not receiving an answer, later received a callback from a man who identified himself as Hale.
The officer was unable to verify the caller was Hale, and when asked if he remembered anything about being at Eskenazi Hospital on July 6, the caller allegedly said they didn't remember anything about that and that they would be in the recovery facility for at least a week.
