The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is investigating an incident at the Fort McPherson VA clinic that led to an employee’s arrest after he was accused of assaulting a 73-year-old Vietnam veteran, officials said.
Phillip Webb said he was seriously injured when he was hit by the VA employee late last month, Channel 2 Action News reported. Webb spent three days in the hospital with a head injury.
According to Channel 2, the employee was arrested by VA police after they reviewed surveillance video footage of the April 28 incident. In a statement, VA officials said the employee, who works in the veteran advocacy department, will not be allowed to interact with patients during the investigation. The employee’s name has not been released.
No other details have been released, and Atlanta VA representatives directed further inquiries to the VA’s Inspector General’s Office, which later released a statement.
“The VA OIG is aware of the incident and is taking appropriate actions. As a matter of course, the VA OIG does not discuss any ongoing investigations,” a representative for the office said.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has submitted a request for the surveillance video and documents related to the employee’s arrest under the Freedom of Information Act.
Webb told Channel 2 he “was still trying to figure out why” the employee hit him. He said he knocked on an office door in the clinic to let the staff know he was going to use the restroom, and the employee came out and confronted him.
“All this happened in a short time. I didn’t even get a chance to tell him I was going to the bathroom because he came out angry,” Webb told the news station.
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