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Posted: 4:41 AM Jul 17, 2006
Man Crashes Van into Clinic
Franciscan Skemp Clinic operations are up and running again after a man drove his van through its front doors in La Crosse.
51-year-old Geoffrey Fitzgerald from Iowa was a former patient of the clinic.
Reporter: Erica Dao |
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Police are still investigating why the man drove his vehicle into the clinic. The mini-van was about 70 feet in from the entrance.
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Fitzgerald told police he had a Molotov cocktail containing gasoline and barricaded himself on the second floor.
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"La Crosse police officers and La Crosse County sheriffs began negotiating with the subject. At approximately 7:20 he surrendered to law enforcement and was taken into custody,” said Captain Rob Abraham of the La Crosse police department.
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The clinic wasn't open at the time of the incident, so no one was hurt. Structural engineers from TCI and the La Crosse Inspections Department were brought in to assess the damage.
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"The front door was totally damaged, so we had to shovel the glass out and remove door frames. There was furniture that was damaged so that had to be carried out,” said David Schaefer, vice president of support services and systems at Franciscan-Skemp.
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The stairwell and pediatrics desk were also damaged in the building. As of right now, there is no estimate of how much the damages are, but the clinic is working fast to get everything back to normal.
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"We'll be replacing the glass door in the next couple of weeks depending upon the availability of materials and the pediatric desk will back in operation as usual by early next week,” said Schaefer.
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Hundreds of appointments were canceled and have been rescheduled. As for Geoffrey Fitzgerald, he was taken to Gunderson-Lutheran Hospital in Lacrosse for minor injuries.
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