Police: Health care employee caught on camera beating patient
MILAN, Tenn. — A Gibson County health care employee turns himself in to investigators Thursday after officers said he was caught on camera beating up a patient inside a mental health facility. Milan police could not release the video of the incident to us due to the ongoing investigation but did tell us it’s extremely brutal and quite graphic. “Health care providers have an obligation just like police officers, firemen and EMTs,” Milan Police Chief Bobby Sellers said. “We’re here to serve the public and these patients.” Investigators said an anonymous call tipped them off about Cleo Lumpkin, who they said was caught on camera using excessive force to restrain a patient. “This patient was trying to get into a place he was not supposed to be in,” Chief Sellers said. “The defendant was trying to get him to not go there.” After the patient gave up, police say Lumpkin can be seen in the video punching the man eight times with a closed fist all while pinning him against a wall. “A person has a right to defend themselves, but then there comes a point where it’s not self defense anymore and you become the aggressor,” Sellers said. Officers said they weren’t contacted about this incident until two days after it happened, but they said there won’t be any consequence for the employer because Lumpkin already had been terminated. “That’s the thing that we have to ask yourself — was that patient still in harm’s way?” Sellers said. “No, he was not because that employee had already been removed.” Although the patient reportedly suffered only minor cuts and bruises, this beating still has many residents concerned. “This makes me very mad,” resident Billy Burns said. “I can’t imagine if one of my family was in there and someone did something like that to my family.” Lumpkin is currently charged with simple assault and is free on a $500 bond. We reached out to the owners of Milan Health Care, but our calls were not returned.
