CLEARFIELD – A DuBois woman charged with assaulting two nurses at the DuBois Regional Medical Center was sentenced to state prison Tuesday in Clearfield County Court.
Miranda Lynn Clark, 25, 217 Morrison St., DuBois, pleaded guilty to two counts each of aggravated assault and harassment. She was sentenced to nine months to three years in state prison and was fined $4 plus costs. She was ordered to complete anger management counseling and to submit to DNA testing at a cost of $250.
In a separate case, she pleaded guilty to two counts each of endangering the welfare of children and leaving child unattended in vehicle. For this she was sentenced to six months to two years in state prison. The second sentence will run concurrent with the other sentence.
The charges in the first case stem from an incident at DRMC on Aug. 19. According to the affidavit of probable cause, Clark was taken to the emergency room by police. She then went out of control and tried to leave. Personnel tried to stop her because of her high level of intoxication.
Clark became belligerent and verbally abusive, running through the emergency room. She ran into a nurse and began attacking her by punching the victim with a closed fist and kicking her. As another nurse tried to restrain Clark, Clark spit in her face. Eventually Clark was restrained and put back in her bed. Before she became abusive, Clark had told the nurses she has hepatitis C.
In the second case, which occurred on Aug. 15, police were called to the parking lot of the Giant Eagle supermarket. Witnesses had seen a vehicle with two small children in the back, which had been parked in the lot for at least a half-hour. When police arrived, one of the vehicle’s doors was open. A witness said he had opened the door when he saw that the children were sweating, to let some air into the vehicle. Both children were secured in safety seats.
About five minutes after police arrived, Clark came out of the Family Dollar store and admitted the children were hers. She was identified through a Pennsylvania ID card, as she did not have a valid driver’s license. She claimed that she left her kids in the car while she went into the business to get an application for employment, after which she came directly back to the vehicle.
Clark was advised that emergency medical personnel had been called to check on the welfare of the children. Clark became agitated and started yelling at the officers. She then tried to take her children and walk away. She had to be told to return to the vehicle because they were not done investigating the incident.
When emergency personnel arrived at the scene, Clark refused treatment for the children. She told the oldest boy not to talk to the emergency personnel.
Another witness in the Family Dollar store said she recognized Clark as a past customer. She said Clark was in the store for at least a half-hour that day. At one point, the witness made an announcement in the store about the kids in the vehicle in an attempt to locate the parent. Clark did not respond to the announcement and continued to shop.
