This story was originally posted on MyNorthwest.com
The man accused of setting a fire and nearly causing an explosion in a trauma room at Harborview Medical Center’s emergency department pleaded not guilty Tuesday morning.
Steven Sauro, 29, is charged with arson, malicious mischief, and four counts of assault.
Prosecutors say that on Feb. 14, Sauro caused about $100,000 in damage to the trauma room, started a fire near a broken oxygen line — which they say could have triggered an explosion — and kicked and spat on nurses and security staff.
They asked that he be held on $250,000 bail, to have no contact with the alleged victims, and to stay away from Harborview.
The judge granted all those requests.
Suspect became enraged after being told he didn’t need surgery
Sauro arrived at Harborview the night of Feb. 13 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,” the Seattle Police Department (SPD) stated in its certification for the 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.
“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.
“After Sauro was restrained in four points on the bed, he continued to yell at staff, security, and SPD,” the court documents continued. “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.”
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 trial date is set for April 13.
Frank Lenzi is the News Director for KIRO Newsradio. Read more of his stories here.
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