Troopers say man assaulted paramedics, damaged ambulance at homeless shelter in Derry Township

A homeless man was jailed early Sunday after state police charged him with assaulting two Mutual Aid paramedics and damaging an ambulance that was dispatched to treat him at a Derry Township shelter.

Michael J. Muchnock III, 38, who has lived in Hempfield, was arrested on multiple criminal charges, including aggravated assault, criminal mischief, disorderly conduct, harassment, institutional vandalism and simple assault after the 1 a.m. incident at the Union Mission on Harrison Avenue.

Trooper John Robertson said Latrobe police and state troopers were dispatched to the homeless shelter when paramedics reported an “out of control male” they were sent to treat for an unspecified medical issue had become combative.

According to police reports, Muchnock became irate as paramedics were treating him inside the shelter and he jumped off a gurney and assaulted a female paramedic. When a male paramedic stepped in, Robertson reported the paramedic was elbowed in his right eye.

Police reported that Muchnock left the shelter, picked up a four-foot-tall ashtray stand and threw it through the rear window of the ambulance parked outside. Damage was estimated at more than $500.

Other occupants and workers at the shelter locked themselves in a room for refuge during the incident, Robertson said.

After the episode, Muchnock told police that “he couldn’t remember” what had taken taken place that resulted in his arrest, Robertson reported.

According to online court dockets, Muchnock is awaiting a preliminary hearing Nov. 14 on criminal trespass and theft charges filed by state police for a Sept. 17 incident in Unity.

Muchnock did not have an attorney listed in court documents.

He was ordered held in the county jail on $2,000 bond. A preliminary hearing in the new case is scheduled Oct. 13.