A man who refused to leave Mercy Hospital in Hillcrest Thursday morning was taken into custody after he became violent and attacked an ambulance with an oxygen tank, police said.
Brandon Howard, 30, was asked to leave the hospital by security guards about 3:20 a.m. but refused, said San Diego police Officer Frank Cali.
As he was being forcibly removed from the premises, Howard grabbed an oxygen tank from a wheelchair and began vandalizing the hospital and an ambulance parked outside, Cali said.
Officers, who used a taser on Howard with no effect, finally subdued him with the use of a pepper ball gun, Cali said.
Howard had no medical need to be at the hospital and had been causing trouble there earlier, according to Cali.
No one was injured in the incident. Howard was booked on suspicion of vandalism.
—City News Service