Officer Mike Briseno Accused of Assaulting Nurse

FARMINGTON

A San Juan Regional Medical Center nurse filed a complaint with Farmington Police on Wednesday, alleging an officer pushed him after arguing about patient privacy. The nurse was placed on leave.

The citizen's complaint accuses Officer Mike Briseno of assault, lack of courtesy during contact and disregard of federal hospital privacy laws during the Sunday altercation.

Nurse Jimmy Weaver reported the officer was supervising a patient in custody in an emergency medical treatment room around 11 p.m. Sunday when a second hospital patient was placed on the opposite side of a privacy curtain.

Briseno, a member of the police department's gang task force, apparently recognized the 14-year-old patient and refused requests to move closer to the man he was monitoring, out of sight of the boy changing into a hospital gown, Weaver claimed.

"He was staring (the patient and his mother) down. I just said, Hey man, would you mind stepping behind the curtain with your patient,'" Weaver said. "He just looked at me and flat said, "No, I'm not getting behind the curtain."

Following a verbal altercation, Weaver claims Briseno shoved him in the chest.

"He had no right to lay a hand on me. (Police) just can't come into the emergency room treating us that way," Weaver said.

Briseno was unavailable for comment. No contact information for the officer is publicly listed.

An internal Farmington Police investigation of the incident has begun, but the department will not comment on details, Lt. Vince Mitchell said.

"I can't release any of that because it involves an internal investigation and has to deal with personnel issues," he said.

Briseno has not faced disciplinary action regarding the Sunday altercation, Mitchell said.

Hospital spokesman Dennis Mathis said Weaver was placed on administrative leave following the incident.

Mathis did not know what hospital policy the nurse violated to be suspended, but said an independent hospital investigation is being conducted. He declined to comment on specifics of the alleged incident.

Weaver has worked as a nurse at the San Juan Regional Medical Center for one year.

Briseno's full record of citizen complaints can not be confirmed. The city of Farmington repeatedly has denied state Inspection of Public Records Act requests to make public all citizen complaints filed against city officers.

Briseno in 2004 was accused of misconduct by Juan Mata, a publicized incident that led to criminal and civil lawsuits against Mata and the Farmington Police.