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HAZLETON — A Hazle Township man was arraigned Tuesday on charges he intentionally vomited on a nurse in the emergency room at Lehigh Valley Hospital — Hazleton.
City police said Ryan Michael Kerrick, 30, of West 17th Street, was in the emergency room as an overdose patient early Tuesday.
Emergency room staff told police Kerrick was yelling and was extremely uncooperative and very demanding, according to a criminal complaint.
Kerrick told staff he needed to “throw up” and was given a small plastic container. Kerrick stated the container was too small and was then handed a bigger plastic bucket.
He grabbed the bucket and vomited into it. While doing so, Kerrick intentionally turned his head, looked at a nurse and vomited on the nurse, hitting him in the chest and abdomen, the complaint says.
Police charged Kerrick with aggravated assault, simple assault, harassment and disorderly conduct. He was arraigned by District Judge Joseph Spagnuolo Jr. in Luzerne County Central Court and jailed at the county correctional facility for lack of $15,000 bail.