GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — A Denmark man is accused of threatening staff at a local hospital and now faces multiple criminal charges.
One of the charges Larry Born faces, threat of bodily harm to a worker in a health care facility, is based on a new bill Governor Tony Evers signed into law earlier this year.
According to a criminal complaint, an officer responded to a call earlier this month at Aurora Hospital in Green Bay. The call reported a man had been in security officers’ faces and was yelling and swearing at staff.
The man was escorted out of the building for causing a disturbance upstairs where his wife was located, as she was on the maternity ward but had not yet given birth. A hospital security guard stated the man was upset about the treatment and care his wife was getting at the hospital. According to the complaint, a security guard identified the man as Larry Born.
The criminal complaint said after the incident, someone looking into Larry Born came across his Facebook page where he made negative comments about Aurora Hospital. In the criminal complaint, another hospital security guard described the Facebook posts as “aggressive and threatening.”
According to the criminal complaint, Born talked about Tannerite and how he and his friends and family have “blown a lot of s--t up.” The complaint said Born also had posts on his Facebook page that featured pictures of the hospital staff and police at the hospital for an unrelated book fair event.
The criminal complaint said there also were photos of paperwork from Aurora and timeclocks, which a security guard indicated had been in sensitive areas of the hospital where Born was not supposed to be.
Also stated in the criminal complaint, Born reportedly had a post that stated, in part, “I DON’T GET MAD. I GET EVEN! PAYBACKS A B---H!” with the photo of Aurora BayCare Medical Center’s sign in the post.
A security guard stated in the criminal complaint that as a staff, they took Born’s postings as a direct threat to the facility and created a high level of anxiety and fear amongst the hospital staff. The criminal complaint also says the hospital increased security measures for a time because of Born’s behavior.
Born was formally charged on Monday with threat of bodily harm to a worker in a health care facility, terrorist threats, disorderly conduct and threaten/injury or harm through computer message.
Last month, Gov. Tony Evers signed a bill that makes threatening a health care worker a felony.
The bill makes it a felony punishable by up to six years in prison for threatening healthcare workers in their official capacity or their families in reaction to something that happened at a healthcare facility.
Legislators drafted the measure in response to stories from health care providers about patients threatening doctors and others who were trying to care for them.
