Delnor Hospital Nurse Receives $7.2M in Hostage Lawsuit Settlement
Three other nurses filed additional lawsuits against Kane County and received settlement money, bringing the total amount to $7.9 million.
The nurses agreed to dismiss the lawsuit in the $7.9 million settlement with Kane County.
A Delnor Hospital nurse who was held hostage at gunpoint and sexually assaulted by a patient has received $7.2 million from the lawsuit she filed against Kane County.
Inmate Tywon Salters, 22, was being treated at the hospital when he grabbed a pistol from a Kane County Jail correctional officer and pointed it at the nurse. He then took her into a room where he beat and raped her.
The lawsuit claimed officer carelessness by Kane County led to the hostage situation. It stated that the rotating of Kane County sheriffs and security guards responsible for watching Salters provided inadequate security.
Three other nurses filed a lawsuit against the hospital and each received settlement money as well, reports the Chicago Tribune. They agreed to dismiss the lawsuit in the settlement.
One nurse, who was also taken hostage received $650,000 and the other nurses who were there that day received $25,000 each.
According to court documents, the Kane County Board paid $200,000 toward the settlement while the rest was paid for by insurance.
All the nurses remained anonymous in the court records, being referred to as Jane Doe I, II, III, and IV.
Salters died that day at Delnor Hospital by a SWAT team following negotiations with police. The bullet struck Salters as well as the arm of the nurse he was holding hostage, according to the lawsuit.
Days before the hostage situation, Kane County Corrections Sgt. Michael Huston sent an email warning officers about Salters.
“Salters ate part of his shoe, was sent to the ER and is about to undergo surgery,” Huston wrote in the email. “Salters should be considered an extreme escape risk as he is desperate to not be in custody. He should be restrained with leg irons hooked up to the bed at all times.”
Since the hostage incident, two officers are now assigned to each inmate taken to the hospital.
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About the Author
Katie Malafronte, Web Editor
Katie Malafronte is Campus Safety's Web Editor. She graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 2017 with a Bachelor's Degree in Communication Studies and a minor in Writing & Rhetoric. Katie has been CS's Web Editor since 2018.
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