By Mitch Smith
Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO — A Chicago Fire Department paramedic was ready to treat a patient Friday but ended up needing medical care himself after the man lashed out violently, police said.
The medic had loaded Reyfius C. Purches, 46, into a CFD ambulance on the North Side just after 5:30 p.m. Friday, police said.
But Purches “became agitated,” court documents said, and punched the 42-year-old paramedic with a closed fist to his face in the 4500 block of North Broadway in Uptown. Prosecutors said Purches struck the medic several times.
Instead of the medic taking Purches to an emergency room, crews took the paramedic to Weiss Memorial Hospital for bruising and swelling. Purches got a ride to jail and was charged with a felony count of aggravated battery.
A resident of the 4600 block of North Clifton Avenue in Uptown, Purches appeared in bond court Saturday before Judge Laura Marie Sullivan. She ordered Purches held on $60,000 bail. He’ll return to court Friday.