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| Polanco sexually assaulted by hospital pysche patient and told not to worry he was just playing by hospital staff |
She walked into Lincoln Hospital with breathing problems — and walked out a sexual assault victim. Polanco’s pain didn’t end there. Hospital staffers and security downplayed the heinous crime, according to interviews and hospital documents. Polanco’s attacker got away with only a slap on the wrist — and his 38-year-old victim was forced to remain overnight in the same room where she was attacked, compounding her trauma.
“If someone goes to the hospital, they shouldn’t leave the hospital worse than they came in,” Polanco said in Spanish through a translator.
She now battles depression and sleeplessness.
“After that day, my life hasn’t been the same,” she said. “Who can give me back my life?”
She now battles depression and sleeplessness.
“After that day, my life hasn’t been the same,” she said. “Who can give me back my life?”
The shocking incident unfolded after Polanco, who suffers from chronic arthritis and severe allergies, arrived at the Lincoln Hospital emergency room on Feb. 7 with labored breathing.
Polanco was admitted and moved to a room on the hospital’s eighth floor about 6 a.m. Over the next few hours, she spotted hospital staffers leading a male patient back and forth past her room.
At one point, the man lunged toward her room but was restrained, Polanco said. Alarmed, Polanco asked a nurse who the pudgy man was.
“A person with mental problems,” the nurse responded, according to Polanco.
Polanco drifted off to sleep about 3 p.m. and awoke to a nightmare: The man was on top of her, grabbing at her breasts and other private parts.
“I took his hands off my body and I screamed,” said a crying Polanco, who lives in Washington Heights with her 12-year-old daughter. “He gave me a scary look and went running out of the room.”
Polanco said it took a few minutes for nurses to respond to her screams. When they did finally show up, they were dismissive, she said. “One of the nurses laughed and said, ‘All he wanted was to wake me up. All he wanted was to play,’ ” said Polanco, who has filed a $20 million notice of claim with the city controller’s office. Fearing a repeat attack, Polanco pleaded for a different room. Her request fell on deaf ears.
Polanco was admitted and moved to a room on the hospital’s eighth floor about 6 a.m. Over the next few hours, she spotted hospital staffers leading a male patient back and forth past her room.
At one point, the man lunged toward her room but was restrained, Polanco said. Alarmed, Polanco asked a nurse who the pudgy man was.
“A person with mental problems,” the nurse responded, according to Polanco.
Polanco drifted off to sleep about 3 p.m. and awoke to a nightmare: The man was on top of her, grabbing at her breasts and other private parts.
“I took his hands off my body and I screamed,” said a crying Polanco, who lives in Washington Heights with her 12-year-old daughter. “He gave me a scary look and went running out of the room.”
Polanco said it took a few minutes for nurses to respond to her screams. When they did finally show up, they were dismissive, she said. “One of the nurses laughed and said, ‘All he wanted was to wake me up. All he wanted was to play,’ ” said Polanco, who has filed a $20 million notice of claim with the city controller’s office. Fearing a repeat attack, Polanco pleaded for a different room. Her request fell on deaf ears.
“Victim asked the staff to change her room,” the Health and Hospitals Corp. police report states. “However, they didn’t until after investigating it the next day.”
The following morning, Polanco was moved down the hall, where she was interviewed by hospital police. While she was giving them a statement, her attacker again burst into her room, she said. One of the officers grabbed him and shoved him outside, she said.
Polanco was never told what happened to the aggressor, who was identified in the police report as Lance Jones. It turned out the answer was not much: Jones was issued only a desk appearance ticket for harassment.
After a warrant check turned up “no hits,” the police report says, “a verbal warning was given as to conduct and further incidents will follow with arrest.”
A Lincoln Hospital spokeswoman — in a tersely worded statement — defended the handling of the incident.
“The hospital considers any such assault a very serious matter,” the statement read. “We responded to the patient, took steps to ensure her safety, and reported the alleged incident to the proper authorities.”
But Polanco’s lawyer, Martha Gold, blasted the hospital for letting Jones off so easily.
“She was his first known victim so he gets a pass on it?” Gold said. “That’s outrageous.”
Two days after the attack, Polanco was examined by a hospital psychologist who later wrote that she was experiencing symptoms associated with “acute stress disorder.”
They included: “Sleep difficulties, low appetite, reliving the trauma (she reports feeling the man’s hands touching her when she tries to sleep),” according to a hospital document.
“I felt not protected,” Polanco said “as if I wasn’t important to them.”
The following morning, Polanco was moved down the hall, where she was interviewed by hospital police. While she was giving them a statement, her attacker again burst into her room, she said. One of the officers grabbed him and shoved him outside, she said.
Polanco was never told what happened to the aggressor, who was identified in the police report as Lance Jones. It turned out the answer was not much: Jones was issued only a desk appearance ticket for harassment.
After a warrant check turned up “no hits,” the police report says, “a verbal warning was given as to conduct and further incidents will follow with arrest.”
A Lincoln Hospital spokeswoman — in a tersely worded statement — defended the handling of the incident.
“The hospital considers any such assault a very serious matter,” the statement read. “We responded to the patient, took steps to ensure her safety, and reported the alleged incident to the proper authorities.”
But Polanco’s lawyer, Martha Gold, blasted the hospital for letting Jones off so easily.
“She was his first known victim so he gets a pass on it?” Gold said. “That’s outrageous.”
Two days after the attack, Polanco was examined by a hospital psychologist who later wrote that she was experiencing symptoms associated with “acute stress disorder.”
They included: “Sleep difficulties, low appetite, reliving the trauma (she reports feeling the man’s hands touching her when she tries to sleep),” according to a hospital document.
“I felt not protected,” Polanco said “as if I wasn’t important to them.”
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