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Rochester, MN (KROC AM News) - A criminal case has been opened in Olmsted County Court against a man who threw a chair at a staff member of a Rochester psychiatric facility.

The chair hit the woman in the head and she suffered a traumatic brain injury that has left her with permanent injuries and unable to work.

A 1st-degree felony assault charge was filed Last Tuesday against 24-year-old Federico Sanchez of Windom. He has been ordered to make his first court appearance next month.

According to the criminal complaint, the incident took place on Aug. 23, 2019, at the Community Behavioral Health Hospital near Whistle Binkies South.

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Officers talked to the victim, who was employed as an LPN at the facility. She said was talking on the phone to the defendant's mother “after he had been grown increasingly agitated throughout the day.” The woman said she and the mother were discussing giving Sanchez medicine to calm down when he grabbed a hard plastic chair and threw it over the counter, hitting her in the head.

The complaint says Sanchez then jumped onto the counter, ripped the staff computer off the table, and threw it on the ground. Witnesses reported Sanchez smashed the speakers, keyboard, monitor, and computer.

Sanchez told officers “that he was on the phone with his mother and was upset that she was not there. He said he became angry after the victim told him it was time to get off the phone.” Sanchez said “he did not want to hurt the victim but that he threw the chair at her because he was angry.”

An investigator later learned the victim “suffered headaches and confusion" and was initially diagnosed with a concussion.

She underwent additional medical testing in June 2021 and received a subsequent diagnosis for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, which causes a reduction in oxygen consumption following a traumatic brain injury.

The investigator was also told, “the victim is now completely disabled and that there are no available accommodations that would allow her to remain employed.”

The investigator was also told the victim “suffers multiple severe headaches on a weekly basis, brain fog, and extreme exhaustion precipitated by ME/CFS and that here injuries have also resulted in neurocognitive impairments regarding verbal learning and free recall.”

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