Out-of-control patient charged

Cody M. Klinger’s cursing and yelling in the emergency room at UPMC Williamsport was so loud and his behavior so disruptive “that it disturbed several other patients,” a state trooper said in a criminal complaint filed at the office of District Judge Aaron Biichle.

Assault-related charges have been filed against Klinger, 27, of 1310 Rural Ave., following the hospital disturbance that occurred about 11 p.m. on Oct. 16.

Klinger was brought to the hospital in a very agitated state after making several statements at his Loyalsock Township home about wanting to harm himself, Trooper Ronald Barrett said. “He said he was going to kill his girlfriend when he is released from the hospital because she called police,” the trooper added. “He was given medication to calm him down, and restraints were placed on his arms and legs to keep him restrained to his hospital bed, but he then began yelling and cursing,” upsetting other patients who were being treated, Barrett said.

When a nurse removed the restraint on Klinger’s arm, the patient allegedly became combative, almost striking her, Barrett said. When an officer entered the treatment room, Klinger grabbed the officer by her hair and “struck her in the face multiple times,” the trooper alleged in an affidavit. Klinger then spit in the face of a second officer who entered the room, police alleged. A taser was then deployed several times on Klinger, but it had no affect, police said. Finally, officers and medical staff got control of the situation only after the patient was given more medication, Barrett said.

Klinger, who has since been discharged, was arraigned last week on three felony counts of aggravated assault, four counts each of terroristic threats, simple assault, recklessly endangering and one count each of resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and harassment. He remains jailed in the Lycoming County Prison in lieu of $85,000 bail.

Clinton Township man charged with terroristic threats

There were some very tense moments inside John Barto’s home at 2120 Pinchtown Road in Clinton Township on the morning of Oct. 23 as both his wife and daughter wrestled a handgun from him, state police alleged in an affidavit.

Barto, 57, “retrieved a handgun and pointed it” at his wife during an argument on their first floor about 10 a.m., police alleged. The daughter, who was upstairs, heard her mother yelling to come down stairs. “When she entered the dining room, she saw her mother and father fighting over the handgun,” police said, adding that the daughter “put her father in a headlock and freed the gun from him,” according to the court document.

Barto was being restrained in a chair by the mother and daughter when troopers arrived at the home. Following his arraignment before District Judge Jon E. Kemp on charges of two counts of each of terroristic threats, simple assault, recklessly endangering and harassment, he was released on $40,000 bail.

Motorist charged with fleeing police

After leaving the scene of a crash and taking city police on a pursuit to the Hepburnville interchange of Route 15 about 5:45 p.m. on Oct. 23, alleged drunk driver Eric John Horn was taken to UPMC Williamsport to submit a blood sample, and while there he told “a nurse that he had consumed two bottles of wine earlier in the day,” an officer wrote in an affidavit.

Driving a 2002 Toyota Tundra, Horn, 46, of 7232 Pleasant Valley Road, Cogan Station, was involved in a two-vehicle crash on an I-180 off-ramp to the Market Street bridge, police said. Horn got out of the vehicle “and began stumbling around” before getting back in the truck and heading west on the interstate and taking the Route 15 north exit, according to a witness who was following him and relaying the information to a police dispatcher, the affidavit stated.

When city police caught up with Horn on Route 15 North at the Foy Avenue interchange in Old Lycoming Township, they saw his truck “cross the fog line several times, nearly striking the sound wall,” the court document stated. Horn exited at the Hepburnville interchange and turned right on Beautys Run Road, where the pursuit ended and he was taken into custody, police said. There were two open beer cans in the truck, police said. “While speaking with Horn, officers could smell a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from his breath,” the affidavit stated.

While he consented to submitting a blood sample, the results will not be known for several weeks, police said. Following his arraignment before District Judge Jon Kemp on charges of felony fleeing police, DUI, reckless driving, careless driving and failure to provide information or aid at a crash scene, Horn was committed to the Lycoming County Prison in lieu of $25,000.