BOSTON, Jan. 15, 2014—A Florida woman was arraigned today for allegedly biting a Boston Emergency Medical Services worker during a call last month, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

LAURA E. BELL (D.O.B. 2/20/86) of Jacksonville was charged with assault and battery on an emergency medical technician for the Dec. 10 incident at a downtown hotel.

Because Bell travelled to Boston to attend the proceedings pursuant to a summons, Assistant District Attorney Susan Terrey did not recommend cash bail – but did request as a condition of Bell’s release that she submit to a blood test and allow the results of that test to be provided to the Commonwealth and shared with the victim. Bell agreed to those conditions and was met by court staff and Boston Police at Massachusetts General Hospital following the proceedings.

The victim, a 41-year-old emergency medical technician, responded to a medical call at the Wyndham Hotel on the night of Dec. 10. On arrival, he found the woman, later identified as Bell, slumped against the wall in an eighth floor hallway, smelling strongly of alcohol. As he attempted to treat her, she allegedly attacked him, scratching him on the neck and face and badly biting his left hand.

The victim and other Boston EMS staff managed to place Bell on a gurney for transport. At about this time, Boston Police also arrived to see her thrashing and screaming as she was wheeled out of the hotel. Officers followed the ambulance that took her to Massachusetts General Hospital, eventually learned that she was a guest of the Park Plaza Hotel and had no apparent reason to be at the Wyndham, and sought a complaint in the Boston Municipal Court. That complaint issued and Bell was summonsed into court today.

The victim was also treated at MGH. Because Bell initially refused a blood test, he had to begin post-exposure preventative medical treatment.

Bell was represented today by attorney Thomas Glynn. She will return to court tomorrow to make a showing that she has complied with the terms of her release.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.