KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — An East Tennessee man hit a nurse and threatened to "kill staff" at a Knoxville hospital, a warrant alleges.
Joshua S. Stanton, 30, who has a criminal history that includes convictions for shoplifting, was arrested by Knoxville police on Saturday.
A warrant states he'd been asked to give a urine sample while a patient Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center. Instead of complying he filled the cup with cold tap water "and became angry when nurses questioned him."
A nurse said Stanton struck him on the head about four times.
Assault on a nurse is a misdemeanor.
According to the nurse, Stanton "then began making threats to kill staff at the hospital," a warrant states.
When police arrived, Stanton confirmed he'd made threats against hospital staff, saying, "That's a fact."
Stanton has been arrested numerous times in recent years for charges that include drug use and theft from an area Walmart and a Target store, records show. In March 2021, he was found with two other people using what was suspected of being heroin while in a Lovell Road gas station restroom stall, a warrant states.
