In a violent, bizarre episode early Thursday, a man picked up an oxygen tank and smashed the windows of an ambulance parked outside Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego’s Hillcrest area.
The San Diego Police Department (SDPD) said the unruly suspect was near the hospital in the 4000 block of Fifth Avenue around 3:20 a.m. and refused to leave.
He became aggressive and, according to police, he grabbed an oxygen tank and used it to smash the windshield and back window of an ambulance parked outside the hospital’s emergency exit.
When officers arrived at the scene, they deployed a Taser on the suspect and also used pepper spray to subdue him. The SDPD said the man was treated at the hospital for injuries sustained in the encounter with police. Once he’s released from the hospital, he will be arrested, police said.
No one other than the suspect was injured. Hours later, staffers continued to clean up the broken glass left behind from the incident.
Police did not say whether the suspect was a patient at the hospital at the time of the incident, or whether he had walked up to the hospital. No further details were released.
