Sen. Bizon pleads guilty to misdemeanor assault and battery charge

State Sen. John Bizon pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault battery charge in Calhoun County Thursday in relation to allegations that he inappropriately touched a health care worker during an Aug. 14 appointment, according to court records and a police report. 

The Battle Creek Republican was arraigned last month on the charge stemming form an August visit to Oaklawn After Hours Express in Marshall. 

The date of Bizon's sentencing was not immediately clear.

Bizon said "without question" the situation is "regrettable."

"As a doctor who has spent decades caring for those in need, I am deeply distressed that I unintentionally caused someone to feel unsafe," Bizon said in a Thursday statement. "I was very sick at the time of the incident and did not behave as I normally would have. Nevertheless, I take this situation very seriously and have learned from it.” 

Bizon was "seriously ill" with COVID-19 when he went to the office and later received monoclonal antibody treatment for his illness, his lawyer Martin Crandall said. 

According to a police report on the incident, Bizon placed his hand on the waist of a 52-year-old nurse practitioner, pulled her to him and squeezed her hip in the exam room. The nurse practitioner told police the incident occurred while they were discussing medications and that "she was shocked and didn't say anything at that time."

She said Bizon also argued with her over the medication she recommended and her refusal to prescribe another. She told police he appeared "disappointed" and "visibly angry" when she refused to prescribe a different medication. 

Bizon told the office's staff that he was a senator and that Oaklawn President Gregg Beeg had sent him to the clinic for care, a medical secretary said, according to the report. 

Bizon is a former ear, nose and throat doctor and a past president of the Michigan State Medical Society and the Calhoun County Medical Society.

In the Senate, he chairs the Families, Seniors and Veterans Committee and serves on the Oversight, Health Policy and Human Services and Energy and Technology committees.

He was elected to the Senate in 2018 after serving four years in the Michigan House.

eleblanc@detroitnews.com