Man accused of trashing trauma room at Harborview ER faces multiple charges
Feb 19, 2026, 5:42 PM
Images from the trauma room damaged at Harborview Medical Center. (Photo courtesy of the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office)
(Photo courtesy of the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office)
The Vancouver, Washington, man accused of trashing a trauma room at Harborview Medical Center is facing several charges.
Prosecutors said Steven Sauro, 29, is charged with arson, malicious mischief, and four counts of assault.
On Saturday, he allegedly tore apart a trauma room in the emergency department. He also spat on and kicked nurses and security staff, according to court documents.
“Perhaps most concerning is the starting of a fire in a room with a broken oxygen line, which could have caused an explosion within a busy hospital,” the charging documents stated. “This endangered staff and other patients in the vicinity.”
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Suspect became enraged after being told he didn’t need surgery
Sauro arrived at Harborview the night before for treatment for injuries to his wrists. Staff told him he would not need surgery, that splints would be sufficient, and that he could be discharged.
“Sauro was upset that he wasn’t going to be getting further treatment as he thought the splints were insufficient,” according to SPD’s certification for determination of probable cause. “This caused him to become enraged, and he threw a chair at the wall of the room. Sauro yelled at nurses and began throwing things around the room, which resulted in security shutting the doors, containing him away from the rest of the ER to prevent Sauro from assaulting staff or interfering with other patients’ care, and calling 911.”
In order to finally subdue Sauro, nurses sedated him, according to the documents.
“After Sauro was restrained in four points on the bed, he continued to yell at staff, security, and SPD,” the documents said. “He continuously rocked his bedside side to side with enough force that HMC staff believed that he was going to tip the bottom-heavy hospital bed over. This continued aggression and actions resulted in nurses making the determination to give him a sedative to calm him down.”
Damage is estimated at $100,000.
According to charging documents, Sauro has an arrest history out of Florida and Massachusetts and has pending charges for harassment, malicious mischief, and assault.
His bail is set at $250,000, and his next court appearance is Tuesday morning.
Frank Lenzi is the News Director for KIRO Newsradio. Read more of his stories here.
