A local man is facing a half dozen criminal charges after allegedly impersonating a doctor at the Trail hospital and causing considerable damage to various rooms before barricading himself inside an office.
According to police, the night of Thursday, Oct. 6, frontline officers with the Trail RCMP responded to a report from Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital. The complainants said a man, identified as a 39-year old from Trail, allegedly broke into locked offices and impersonated a doctor while inside the hospital.
The suspect was confronted by suspicious staff members and he responded by trying to convince them that he was a doctor who worked at the hospital.
When staff did not believe his obvious ruse, witnesses reported the man went on a crime spree, causing considerable damage as he broke into offices and other secure locations inside the facility.
The accused then barricaded himself inside an office until police arrived.
Sgt. Mike Wicentowich says the RCMP responded quickly to the ongoing incident and located the man at the scene of his alleged crimes, still wearing hospital-issue scrubs, coat, and cap.
Officers arrested the perpetrator without incident; however, he attempted to break free of police custody twice while being escorted back to a marked police vehicle.
Wicentowich said the officers located two USB thumb drives on his person during a search incidental to his arrest.
Police suspect the drives were taken from the hospital.
The Trail man was later released from police custody on several conditions.
Police say he will be closely monitored by law enforcement while in the community, and will face criminal charges in the Rossland provincial courthouse.
Trail RCMP are forwarding several criminal charges to provincial Crown counsel for review: break and enter; disguise with intent; identity fraud; mischief under $5,000; possession of stolen property; and resisting arrest.
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