Suspect arrested following violent rampage at Harborview’s Emergency Room

Seattle police report a chaotic scene at the Harborview Emergency Room, where a patient went on a violent rampage over the weekend.

Officers arrested a 29-year-old suspect after they say he destroyed a trauma room, lit a fire, then attacked nurses and security guards Saturday morning.

Harborview officials report the man left behind a path of destruction that will cost the hospital more than $100,000 to repair.

The man’s frenzied behavior came several hours after he showed up at the emergency room Friday night, to be treated for an injury.

Police say doctors treated him for an injured wrist.

Once the medical staff had completed working on him, around 10 a.m., they cleared him for release from the hospital.

That’s when he reportedly became agitated and started a raging binge of destruction directed at hospital equipment and staff.

Hospital staffers say the man started throwing anything he could get his hands on, then began spitting on, and kicking, nurses and guards.

Police say he also attempted to put together a makeshift noose out of plastic tubing, threatening to kill himself.

Hospital staffers tried to restrain the man, but only after he broke an oxygen line and lit a bucket of medical equipment on fire.

Emergency room workers say the man broke open a direct oxygen line, introducing the risk of an explosion or fire.

The damaged oxygen valve allowed fresh air to flow into the room unimpeded.

“Security and staff intervened as an active fire in the room with the broken oxygen line could cause an explosion within the hospital,” according to the police report.

Police officers soon arrived to help subdue the man.

Before arriving, officer received reports of a patient trashing a trauma room inside the hospital.

According to the police report, when officers got to the scene, “it appeared that almost everything in the room had been thrown around or tipped over as staff and security were fighting with the suspect.”

Officers arrested the suspect on investigation of multiple counts of assault, arson, property destruction, and interference with a health care facility.

The Seattle Police Department says it has dealt with the violent suspect before.

They say he’s been known to assault law enforcement officers on previous occasions.

He also had several active warrants for his arrest.

An ambulance transported the suspect, along with an armed police escort, to the King County Jail for booking.

SPD says its detectives in the Homicide and Assault Unit have been assigned as investigators in the case.