Two former guards at MedStar Washington Hospital Center were charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of a 74-year-old patient outside the Washington, D.C., hospital last fall, according to an article on The Washington Post website.

The men face a maximum of 30 years in prison if convicted. The patient suffered a broken vertebra near the base of his neck during an altercation with the guards who confronted him after he walked out of the hospital without being discharged.

The guards, who were qualified to carry firearms and have arrest powers, were trying to restrain the patient and take him back into the hospital when he was injured.

A hospital spokesperson said the hospital has undergone a “thorough evaluation of the event to identify ways to improve in order to prevent such an occurrence in the future” and is working to improve communication involving doctors, nurses and security.

Read the article.