Police: Man arrested rides elevator up and down beating Nashville hospital staff

UPDATE: Davidson County court records show prosecutors dropped charges against Brown on May 3 after a judge found him incompetent to trial.

Metro Nashville police are investigating after they say a man randomly attacked at least six people inside a Midtown parking garage on Wednesday morning.

Larry Brown, 67, is charged with six counts of assault in connection to the morning’s  attacks against five women and a male security guard in St. Thomas Midtown Hospital garage at 300 20th Avenue North.

Police reported the suspect, who had received treatment at St. Thomas Midtown, had been discharged but refused to leave the hospital.

After being escorted off hospital property, police reported, the suspect entered the parking garage and rode the elevator up and down, randomly assaulting the women, all hospital staff members, by striking them in the head and face with his fist.

According to police, a St. Thomas Midtown security guard searching for the suspect found him in a stairwell of the parking garage on the sixth floor.

The suspect then punched the security guard in the head prior to being taken into custody, police said.

Police said additional victims from the morning’s attacks alerted police after the suspect's arrest and that those cases are also being investigated.

Additional charges against Brown are pending, police said.

Brown has been arrested more than 200 times since 1975, including multiple assault charges, police said.

In 2019, he was convicted of assaulting a female health care provider for hitting and pushing a fire department medic during his transport in an ambulance.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Brown was being held on $30,000 bond at the Davidson County jail.

Natalie Neysa Alund is based in Nashville at The Tennessean and covers breaking news across the south for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at nalund@tennessean.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.