Patient arrested after attacking nurse at Utah Valley Hospital

PROVO, Utah — A 19-year-old patient was arrested Sunday morning after she allegedly attacked a nurse at Utah Valley Hospital in Provo.

The nurse told police he was going in to assist the patient, Nika Podoprygora, when the assault happened.

“She asked for an item she was not permitted to have and attacked the nurse,” read the probable cause statement.

Court documents state Podoprygora “grabbed ahold of his throat and dug her nails into him, leaving multiple scratches and punctures on his neck.”

Erik Jensen with the Provo Police Department wrote in the probable cause statement that the nurse also had multiple one-inch lacerations on the top of his head.

“The nurse advised she had assaulted another staff member a few hours earlier and they were not able to calm her down with medications,” read the statement.

Podoprygora was then discharged from the hospital and transported to the Utah County Jail, where she is being held for investigation of assault.