Man arrested after allegedly throwing rock at, damaging medical helicopter: Yavapai Regional Medical Center, Prescott, Arizona

PRESCOTT - A man who police said threw a large rock at a medical helicopter based at Yavapai Regional Medical Center caused $100,000 damage to the aircraft on Monday night and was arrested for criminal damage, according to a police report.

Benjamin A. Barnett, 31, admitted that he had thrown the river rock through the helicopter's front windshield as it sat on the ground-level helipad at YRMC, the report said, and in the process, it created a five-inch hole in the windshield and a four-inch hole in the fuselage.

The flight crew was away from the aircraft at the time, but a hospital security guard told police he believed Barnett, who had just left the facility, caused the damage, the report said.

An officer was able to get a description of Barnett from hospital staff, and he was located at West Yavapai Guidance Center, and when the officer arrived there, Barnett came up to him and told him, "I damaged the helicopter at the hospital," the report said.

Barnett said he was very sorry and that he "was not thinking straight" when he threw the rock, the report said. He also told the officer that he had been hallucinating for "the last couple of days."

He was charged with criminal damage and booked into the Camp Verde jail, where he is being held on $1,500 bond.

Source:  http://www.dcourier.com