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Dad who said hospital injured son is arrested

Brian Bashara and his wife had accused All Children's of breaking their son's leg. Now, he faces abuse charges.

By REBECCA CATALANELLO Times Staff Writer
Published October 12, 2006

TAMPA - A man who publicly accused a Tampa hospital of injuring his son turned himself in Wednesday to face charges that he abused the 4-month-old boy.

On Aug. 30, hospital workers at All Children's Hospital in Pinellas County discovered Brian Bashara's infant son suffered a skull fracture while in his father's custody, according to Bashara's arrest report.

The baby also had three broken but healing ribs and showed evidence of an older brain injury, jail records state.

The All Children's finding came one month after Bashara and his wife, Leann, held a press conference with attorney Kimberley Kohn, blaming St. Joseph's Children's Hospital for breaking the boy's leg during a radiology procedure on July 22.

Now, Hillsborough deputies say Bashara, 25, gave conflicting accounts of how the infant could have received the Aug. 30 skull fracture.

Bashara first told authorities it was possible the baby could have accidentally struck his head on a bedroom dresser.

Later, Bashara told investigators he was carrying the baby on his left shoulder as he walked out of a dark bedroom and tripped over the family dog.

The baby's head struck the metal part of the door frame, Bashara said, according to jail records.

But because the child did not have any bruising on his scalp, Pinellas County Child Protection Team director Sally Smith told detectives the account is not plausible.

Also, Smith said the healing rib fractures detected on Aug. 30 are consistent with injuries sustained by infantile child abuse victims, the arrest report said.

"Such fractures are usually caused by high force squeezing or compression injury to the chest." Detective J. Warren wrote in Bashara's arrest record.

Despite the arrest on Wednesday, the Basharas are pressing forward with plans to file a lawsuit against St. Joseph's, attorney Kohn said.

"I am still very confident with the fact that St. Joseph's Hospital is responsible for the femur fracture," Kohn said Wednesday.

Asked whether she believes Bashara's arrest might undermine such a civil lawsuit, Kohn noted that child abuse investigators found no evidence the parents were responsible for the baby's July injuries.

"It could affect the civil case," Kohn said of the potential lawsuit. "But should it?"

St. Joseph's Children's Hospital spokeswoman Lisa Patterson said the hospital has not received any information from the Basharas regarding their intent to sue. But the hospital denies the allegations that the child was hurt as a result of anything the hospital employees did.

"Our heart truly goes out to this precious baby," Patterson said. "We're a children's hospital, and we exist to help the children of our community. ... We certainly hope the future is better for this little child."

Leann Bashara declined comment about her husband's arrest. Brian Bashara's criminal attorney, Joan Berkowitz, could not be reached by phone late Wednesday. But a worker in the law office said the firm would have no comment.

Brian Bashara was being held at the Orient Road Jail without bond on an aggravated child abuse charge. His prior arrests date to 1996 in Florida, according to public records. They include driving under the influence and burglary of a structure.

On Aug. 17, he was arrested on a domestic battery charge. Deputies said he struck his wife when she asked him to get out of bed and feed the baby. That charge was dropped and the case closed without prosecution.

On Wednesday, the Bashara baby remained in his grandmother's custody.

Pat Frame, Leann Bashara's mother, said her affection for her grandson has only grown since she began caring for him in her Valrico home at the request of authorities following the Aug. 30 incident.

News of her son-in-law's arrest left her with mixed emotions, she said, but she's focused on the baby's safety.

"I'm attached to him," Frame said. "I don't want nothing bad to happen to him anymore."

Times researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report. Rebecca Catalanello can be reached at (813) 226-3383 or rcatalanello@sptimes com.

[Last modified October 12, 2006, 12:06:15]