Savannah man gets prison for 2023 attack on ER nurse at Hardeeville hospital
A Georgia man was sentenced to 12 years in prison for a sudden 2023 attack inside a Hardeeville hospital, in which he attacked a nurse and briefly held her hostage with a stolen pair of scissors.
Marc Kaikala, 40, of Savannah, pleaded guilty in Jasper County court Thursday to felony charges of kidnapping and first-degree assault, both stemming from the attack in the emergency room of Coastal Carolina Medical Center on May 27, 2023.
Prosecutors said Kaikala was a patient in the ER when he grabbed a pair of scissors from a passing nursing assistant and attacked the nurse who was treating him. He began dragging the nurse toward an exit “with the scissors pressed against her neck,” according to a news release from the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
The nurse was injured in the attack and received medical treatment in its aftermath, according to Solicitor’s Office spokesperson Jeff Kidd.
Kaikala’s 12-year prison term for kidnapping would run concurrently with his 10-year sentence for felony assault. His case was set to go to trial in August at the Jasper County Courthouse until he pleaded guilty to both related charges.
“This dangerous situation could have ended very differently if not for the quick and brave actions of the victim and fellow healthcare workers,” Assistant Solicitor Logan Mallett said in the Friday press release. “This defendant needed to be held accountable for his actions, and that happened this week.”
A few days after his arrest, Kaikala reportedly caused intentional damage to the sprinkler system in his cell at the Jasper County Detention Center. He was charged by Ridgeland police with malicious injury to jail property and the case remained pending as of Monday.
Located off I-95 just north of downtown Hardeeville, Coastal Carolina Hospital is a sister facility to the Hilton Head Medical Center. Both are operated by Novant Health, a multi-billion-dollar health system that is also building a hospital in Bluffton.
Judicial records showed Kaikala had no prior convictions in Jasper County court.
In Hawaii, Kaikala was convicted in 2006 of burglary and unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle, according to the Solicitor’s Office.
As of Monday afternoon, public records from the South Carolina Department of Corrections did not list Kaikala as an inmate in the state’s prison system.
