Man Arrested After Bizarre Incident Inside UPMC Shadyside

SHADYSIDE (KDKA) - A man was arrested after threatening people at UPMC Shadyside Hospital and then spraying a fire extinguisher around the East Wing Patient Information area.

Around 5 p.m. Monday, officers were called to the hospital on Center Avenue for a criminal mischief complaint. Hospital security called police saying an individual was acting strange, incoherent and approaching people asking for cigarettes and threatening others.

Christopher Martinez, 23, was bleeding profusely from his right hand. Security says Martinez had a rock in his right hand and broke out a glass window that holds the fire extinguisher in the East Wing Aiken Avenue Patient Information Center area.

After breaking the glass, officials say Martinez then discharged the extinguisher in the patient information area.

According to the criminal complaint, a nurse at the hospital said she was finishing her shift and was leaving through the East Wing when she encountered Martinez. The witness says he was screaming at her that he wanted a cigarette and if he didn't get one, he was going to mess her up. She went on to tell police that Martinez had a rock with him and used it to smash the glass around the fire extinguisher.

A second witness was a volunteer. She said Martinez came into the area screaming obscenities and told her if she called the police he would kill her. She also observed him breaking the glass around the fire hydrant with a rock.

Officers say the entire area was covered in the fire extinguisher powder. The area was also contaminated with blood from the suspect's hand being cut. The damage left behind at the hospital was estimated at $1,000.

Martinez was arrested on charges of criminal mischief, recklessly endangering another person, injuring or tampering with fire apparatus, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness.

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