Woman punches staff trying to flee hospital

COLFAX –– Punching a nursing assistant in the face got an 18-year-old Clarkston woman a felony charge in Whitman County.

Jessi L. Betts, 18, of Clarkston was charged with assault in the third degree on Oct. 26, according to court records.

Betts was in the emergency room of the Whitman Hospital and Medical Clinics receiving treatment for injuries hospital staff suspected were “sustained in a car crash in Palouse.” The Palouse police met her first and reported she was acting strange and requested she be examined at a hospital.

She later left the hospital bare foot when the temperature was betwee...