Las Cruces Police have charged a local psychiatrist for knowingly abusing a 28-year-old man who was formerly his patient.
Daniel J. Brandt, 54, is charged with one count of abuse of a resident, a fourth-degree felony.
Las Cruces Police detectives learned that Brandt is a psychiatrist at Campo Behavioral Health Services and administered services to the 28-year-old intellectually disabled man for 13 years until July 2014 when the man’s court appointed guardian requested a change of psychiatrists.
Detectives learned that on Tuesday, Dec. 2, the 28-year-old man and his caretaker went to Brandt’s office to drop off paperwork and reconcile the former patient’s records at Campo Behavioral Health Services.
Detectives learned that as the caretaker and former patient were leaving, they were stopped in the parking lot and told that Brandt wanted his former patient to see a therapist who recently started working at the facility. When the 28-year-old former patient refused to accompany Brandt into the office, Brandt is alleged to have grabbed the man’s hoodie, twisted it around his hand and then escorted the man inside.
A witness told detectives that Brandt’s tight hold on the hoodie caused the patient to choke and pass out for a brief time.
Detectives obtained a warrant from Magistrate Court for Brandt’s arrest. He was arrested Wednesday and booked into the Dona Ana County Detention Center on a $10,000 bond. He has since posted bail and has been released from custody.
Information from Las Cruces Police