Seattle police arrested a 29-year-old man with an extensive criminal history Saturday after investigators say he trashed a trauma room at Harborview Medical Center, damaged a direct oxygen line, and tried to start a fire, an incident staff said forced the room out of service and could top $100,000 in repairs.
Officers were dispatched to Harborview at about 10:15 a.m. after a report that a suspect had “completely trashed the room,” with security holding a door shut while waiting for backup because there was access to needles and other potential weapons inside, according to the police report.
NEW: Seattle police arrested a 29-year-old man with a record of assaulting law enforcement & has several active warrants, for destroying a hospital emergency room, lighting a fire, and attacking nurses & security guards at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
HMC staff… pic.twitter.com/Pw3vxohbRr
— Ari Hoffman (@thehoffather) February 15, 2026
When officers arrived, multiple hospital staff and security officers were trying to restrain the man, identified in booking paperwork as Steven Sauro, after officers say he spit on several people attempting to hold him down and rocked the hospital bed hard enough to try to flip it. Medical staff decided to sedate him to prevent him from harming himself, the report states.
The episode began after Sauro came to the hospital the night before with wrist injuries, telling staff he had been attacked with a baseball bat, police wrote. An attending nurse told officers he had two broken wrist bones that did not require surgery and would be treated with splints, news that police say angered him as he was being discharged.
According to the report, Sauro threw a chair into a wall, yelled at staff, and overturned items throughout the room. Security locked him inside to prevent him from leaving or hurting others, police said.
While alone in the room, police say he broke an oxygen valve on a medical line, allowing oxygen to flow freely, then gathered gauze and paper into a trash bag and tried to ignite it. A security supervisor told officers the material was partially lit, smoking, and smoldering when security entered to restrain him and put the fire out.
Security stomped out the fire, removed the bin from the building, and placed it outside in the ambulance bay, the report states. During the struggle, Sauro kicked an emergency room technician in the ribs, kicked security guards, and spat on multiple staff members, including an ER technician and a registered nurse.
Police say security recovered two Bic lighters from Sauro and submitted them as evidence.
Afterward, the head of the emergency department told officers the damaged oxygen line and valve could cost more than $100,000 to repair, with a definitive estimate expected after a technician evaluates the system. Until then, the room would be unusable for treating patients.
Sauro was medically cleared and booked into the King County Jail. Police listed probable cause for arson, assault, and felony malicious mischief, among other allegations.
Because of the Monday holiday, a judge reviewed the probable-cause paperwork on Saturday and determined there was sufficient cause to hold Sauro for investigation of Assault in the Third Degree (against hospital staff), Arson in the First Degree, and Malicious Mischief in the First Degree, according to the King County Prosecutor’s Office.
Court documents obtained by The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI described the suspect as “known to be assaultive with law enforcement” and also had outstanding warrants.
