Police: Fired Lab Worker Says Boy Bit First

INDIANAPOLIS -- A former lab technician admitted to investigators she bit an autistic boy during a blood test, but she added that the 3-year-old had bitten her first, Indianapolis police said Wednesday.

The county prosecutor's office will determine whether charges will be filed against the technician, who was fired after Friday's incident at St. Vincent Hospital, 6News' Rafael Sanchez reported.

The boy's mother, Faith Buntin, took him to St. Vincent for a blood test because of recent recalls of toys involving lead. Buntin told 6News that as the technician restrained the boy so a colleague could draw blood, the worker restraining the child put her mouth on the boy's shoulder.

Buntin said the worker told her, "it was just a play bite," and that the boy wasn't hurt.

"I did hear her ... comment to her colleagues, 'That's the way we treated kids at the group home.' And I thought to myself, 'Glad my child is not in a group home,'" Buntin told 6News.

Buntin said she overlooked the incident because her son was crying over the testing. Back at home, she said, she saw teeth marks on his left shoulder.

Her husband drove the boy back to the hospital, where he was prescribed antibiotics. The family filed a report with police and is seeking criminal charges.

The fired technician told investigators that she bit the boy after he bit her arm. She said she has a bruise to prove her claim, police said.

The technician worked for Mid America Clinical Laboratories, a subcontractor that does blood work for St. Vincent. In a faxed statement Wednesday, Mid America said it doesn't "condone the behavior of the laboratory employee."

"Based upon our findings, we have taken appropriate action," the company said. "We are cooperating fully with the authorities and St. Vincent Hospital and we cannot comment further due to the ongoing investigation."

Police said the fired technician has expressed remorse. Attempts by 6News to reach her for comment weren't successful.

Buntin said her son is autistic. She said he was supposed to start preschool this week, but she and her husband are keeping him home because he has clung to them since Friday's incident.