NJ-EMS

A 56-year-old homeless man was charged last night with punching an EMT worker in the face at Hoboken University Medical Center, a police report said.

Around 11:15 p.m., officers responded to the hospital and met with a 24-year-old member of the Hoboken Volunteer Ambulance Corps who said he was assaulted by a patient he was bringing to the hospital, police said. The EMT said he had been dispatched to Pier A Park on a report of an intoxicated man, later identified as Robert Williams, on the ground, reports said. While he was being transported to the hospital, Williams reached over and punched the 24-year-old in the face with his right hand, police were told. After punching the EMT, Williams was restrained to the bed until police arrived, reports said. Williams, who told officers that he fell in the park, was kept at the hospital for evaluation because he was intoxicated, police said. Williams, who police say had been staying at the Hoboken Homeless Shelter, was later charged with aggravated assault, a police report said.