Underpants-Clad Mental Patient Punched Nurse in Jaw: Cops

JOLIET, IL — A mental patient clad only in his underpants punched a male nurse in the jaw as two cops looked on, police said.

Kenneth Waller, 41, was at Presence St. Joseph Medical Center shortly before 6 a.m. Thursday for a psychological evaluation.

Waller’s behavior prompted hospital staff to call the cops, police said, and when officers arrived, he clenched his fists and puffed out his chest.

The officers told Waller to sit down on a bed, police said, and so did a 27-year-old male nurse. Waller, a Joliet resident, allegedly responded by punching the nurse in the jaw.

When Waller was released from the hospital Friday morning, he was arrested on a charge of aggravated battery to a nurse and taken to the Will County jail.