‘Safety Drill’ Was|Terrifying, Woman Says

MOUNT HOLLY, N.J. (CN) - In a boneheaded "safety drill," a behavioral health center sent a masked gunman to demand Oxycontin from a pharmacist's assistant on Christmas Eve - and she says the terrifying incident left her with depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Babette Perry, who is 4 feet 11 inches tall, says she had worked at Hampton Behavioral Health Center for more than 8 years when her bosses sent the 6-foot-tall gunman to her in an unannounced "safety drill." He actually was another worker from the mental health service's hospital.

Perry says the "gunman" told her he was holding Hampton's human resources director hostage, and Perry could not call for help because the phone line was dead.

Perry says she was never warned about or trained on how to handle such a situation.

Even after she learned that there was no threat of being shot or taken hostage, Perry says, she began hyperventilating and could not return to work for a week.

In the year and half since the incident, she says she has been seeing a therapist and taking medication for depression, anxiety and panic disorder. She says she still suffers from nightmares, insomnia and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Perry seeks compensatory and punitive damages from Hampton Hospital and Universal Health Services for assault and false imprisonment.

She is represented in Burlington County Court by James Duttera with Console Law Offices of Philadelphia.

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