Douglas Kennedy charged in scuffle with nurses

(NECN/CNN) - New details are emerging in a bizarre hospital incident involving the youngest son of the late Robert Kennedy.

Douglas Kennedy is facing misdemeanor charges after he got into an altercation with two nurses as he tried to take his newborn son outside for a walk.  

Was he defending his rights as a parent and protecting his child - or refusing to follow a nurse's order?

Douglas Kennedy was visiting his wife, Molly, in the maternity ward about two days after her C-Section and said he wanted to take his baby outside for some fresh air.

It was about 7:30 p.m. on a Saturday night in January, in a hospital in a New York City suburb.

Baby Bo was swaddled in his blanket and cap.

Kennedy says some nurses were willing to let him go, but when others disagreed, things took a nasty turn.

In sworn depositions to police, nurses say they convinced Kennedy to leave an elevator. Then, headed to a stairwell, the nurses say that's when things got physical.

"This particular father grabbed her wrist, her arm, and twisted it so severely she had tremendous pain in her arm. She then backed off with the other nurse standing right there. This gentleman then proceeded to kick her, and kick her so hard with so much violence that she flew through the air and landed in the middle of the corridor," Attorney Elliot Taub said.

Kennedy's lawyer says Kennedy was trying to protect Baby Bo and used a knee, not a foot, to stop the nurses who were grabbing for his baby.

"The only aggressors were the nurses. And in fact initially the nurses said that he could go outside and it only changed when another nurse and then another nurse after that became aggressive and blocked Douglas from walking with his baby outside to get fresh air," Attorney Robert Gottlieb said.

The nurses told police the baby's head was "shaking violently from side to side."

Kennedy's lawyer denies it, adding the baby slept through the whole thing. Attorneys for both sides agree that the baby was not injured.

An emergency room doctor who was visiting Kennedy and saw what happened, defending his boyhood friend in a statement that reads: "I can state unequivocally that the nurses were the only aggressors. To charge Mr. Kennedy with a crime is simply incomprehensible."

Seven weeks later, the local D.A. charged Kennedy with a misdemeanor for child endangerment, and harassing the nurses.

It's unclear whether the nurses will sue Kennedy civilly. However, a few weeks ago, they sent Kennedy a letter suggesting that he might want to hire a lawyer.