CANOGA PARK : Man to Be Tried in Attack on Doctor
A Canoga Park man was ordered to stand trial Friday on charges that he broke an emergency room doctor’s jaw after learning that the doctor gave the man’s girlfriend a rectal exam.
Michael Tipton, 24, faces up to five years in prison if convicted of what prosecutors say was an unprovoked attack on Dr. Edward Spitz on Aug. 28 at Humana Hospital-West Hills.
At a preliminary hearing Friday in Van Nuys Municipal Court, Spitz testified that Tipton punched him in the jaw after he performed a pelvic and rectal examination on Tipton’s 19-year-old girlfriend, who was complaining of abdominal pains.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Darlene Duuglas said that the exam procedure used by Spitz was routine and that a nurse was present at the time.
After finding there was sufficient evidence to order a trial, Judge Michael Luros ordered Tipton to be arraigned Sept. 25 in Van Nuys Superior Court. He is charged with felony battery and assault with serious bodily injury.
Luros also ordered that Tipton, who has been jailed in lieu of $25,000 bail since the incident, be released without bail but required that his whereabouts be electronically monitored.
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