Former Colo. Paramedic Found Guilty In Ambulance Assault
A former Denver paramedic faces up to 12 years in prison when he is sentenced next month for second-degree assault and false reporting.
DENVER --
A former Denver paramedic faces up to 12 years in prison when he is sentenced next month for second-degree assault and false reporting.
A Denver jury found Alan Miller, 31, guilty on Tuesday of assaulting a patient in an ambulance as he was being transported to Denver Health Medical Center.
According to an affidavit obtained by 7News earlier this year, 39-year-old Tim Smith suffered a seizure and hit his head at his home on the night of Jan. 3.
The paramedic who was driving him to Denver Health told police she heard what sounded like punching coming from the back of the ambulance where Miller was treating Smith.
Shaunna King "observed Miller punch Smith in the stomach and in the face" and "watched Miller strike Smith in the side of the head with his right elbow," the affidavit said.
King said she had stopped the ambulance because Smith slipped out of his restraints and four police officers were called to help restrain him. The officers said when they arrived, they saw "a large amount of blood throughout the ambulance" and Smith was bleeding profusely from his nose and mouth.
King told investigators, "There was no reason for the patient to be handled the way he was."
Smith's wife, Suzanne Smith, told police her husband didn't have the skull, nose and eye socket injuries when he was loaded into the ambulance.
Miller is no longer employed by Denver Health.
He'll be sentenced on Nov. 13.
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