A 21-year-old patient at Roxbury Treatment Center broke free of his restraints and tried to hyperextend a staff member’s arm badly enough to break it, according to Pennsylvania State Police, who say the man later admitted he did it because he wanted to go to jail. Sawyer Elliott Andrews, of Carlisle, now faces felony aggravated assault against a designated individual, along with misdemeanor assault and a harassment citation.
State police were dispatched to the Southampton Township facility on Sunday after receiving a report of an assault between two people, as reported by Tri-State Alert. Investigators say the altercation began while a Roxbury staff member was attempting to administer medications to Andrews, who broke free of his restraints and got into a physical struggle with the employee.
According to the outlet’s report, Andrews was unable to actually break the victim’s arm, though the woman was left with red marks. Police say Andrews told them directly that he intentionally tried to break the victim’s left arm because he wanted to go to jail.
A Felony Charge Rooted in a 2020 State Law
The felony aggravated assault charge against Andrews stems from Pennsylvania’s Act 51 of 2020, which designated health care practitioners and technicians as protected individuals under the state’s aggravated assault statute, according to the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Under that law, even an attempt to cause bodily injury to a protected medical worker can be charged as felony-grade aggravated assault rather than a lesser misdemeanor offense…