By Stephanie Weaver
Reading Eagle
READING, Pa. — A Berks County judge decided to not send a New Jersey woman to prison for knocking out a medic who was trying to put her in an ambulance after a domestic incident in Kutztown this summer.
Judge Patrick T. Barrett said that he believed Gloria M. Gordon instead needed to continue with mental health treatment to get proper help.
“The facts were very disturbing, quite frankly, because she wanted to hurt herself before anyone else,” the judge said during Gordon’s sentencing. “I don’t think prison will help her.”
Gordon, 26, of Califon, N.J., pleaded guilty Jan. 8 before Barrett to four counts of aggravated assault.
In addition to kicking the medic in the head and knocking her unconscious, Gordon admitted that she also kicked at two police officers and a second medic while intoxicated.
Barrett sentenced Gordon to three years of probation with nine months of electronic monitoring.
She was also ordered to pay more than $3,500 in restitution.
Defense attorney Andrea E. Mertz said that Gordon struggles with depression and immediately sought treatment after her initial hearing in the case and completed an in-patient program.
Mertz said that her client returned to treatment after falling back into a deep depression in December.
During the incident, Mertz said that Gordon was banging her head repeatedly on the ground and threatening to harm herself.
“The officers and EMTs acted with great restraint to keep her calm,” Mertz said. Assistant District Attorney Jason C. Glessner recommended a sentence of nine to 23 months in Berks County Prison.
“This young lady certainly has issues, but she was the one drinking,” he said. “She kicked someone in the head and they were knocked unconscious.”
According to authorities:
Gordon’s ex-boyfriend contacted authorities about 1 a.m. Aug. 5 to report that Gordon, who had been drinking, struck him while they were in a home in the 300 block of Walnut Street.
When officers arrived, they could hear yelling from the carport and found Gordon lying partially under a car. She refused to get up and became combative.
Officers were able to get Gordon in handcuffs and tried to calm her down.
They picked her up and held her against a wall as she kicked and tried to assault both officers.
Kutztown University police and an ambulance crew arrived and helped handcuff both of Gordon’s arms to a gurney.
Four officers were helping the medics load the gurney into the ambulance when the back half of the gurney got caught, causing the officer holding down Gordon’s legs to lose his grip.
As officers tried to free the gurney, Gordon kicked a female medic in the face, knocking her unconscious.
Another ambulance was called to the scene for the injured medic.
Gordon was sedated, placed in the ambulance, and taken to Penn State Health St. Joseph hospital for treatment and an evaluation. She was released the next morning and arrested by borough police.
The medic suffered a mild concussion and was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital near Allentown for treatment. She did not have any lasting injuries.
One of the officers also suffered a forearm injury during the struggle and was treated at St. Joseph hospital.
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