A state hospital employee has been arrested for allegedly attempting to drug a date at a Colorado Springs restaurant, authorities say.
Robert Lawrence Psaty, 56, was arrested Wednesday after a waiter at Ruby Tuesday restaurant on Garden of the Gods Road allegedly saw him drop a pill into his date’s drink, according to a Colorado Springs Police Department news release.
Psaty met the woman through a Colorado Springs dating service and was having dinner with her on Jan. 3, police say.
The waiter removed the drink from the table and called police. Testing indicated that the drink contained Diazepam or Valium, according to police.
Psaty is an employee of the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo. After his arrest, he was placed on administrative leave with pay, pending the outcome of the case, said Eunice Wolther, spokeswoman for the state hospital.
He has been a mental-health clinician in the hospital forensic unit, treating patients committed after being found not guilty by reason of insanity, according to Wolther. He was hired Oct. 18, 2004, she said.
As a clinician, Psaty guides group-therapy sessions, but he is not a medical doctor and does not administer medications, Wolther said.
She said that hospital medications are locked and closely monitored.
“Medication supplies are checked and double-checked,” Wolther said.
Psaty was a Florence City Councilman in 1993 when he was charged with harassing a nurse he worked with at Centennial Correctional Facility.
He pleaded guilty in the case in 1994 and received a deferred sentence, according to The Gazette of Colorado Springs. The state was sued by the nurse in 1996 and settled, paying her and her attorney $258,000, the newspaper reported.
Psaty resigned from the council in 1995.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
