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NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man set fire to his hospital bed in an attempt to get the attention of nurses because he felt that they were ignoring him, police said.
John David King, 75, admitted to using a lighter to set a plastic bag on fire at a hospital in New Smyrna Beach on Saturday, news outlets reported.
He didn't intend to hurt anyone but was upset, police said, because he felt nurses were ignoring him when he asked that they bring him his clothes. King had been admitted to the hospital for respiratory failure.
King's roommate, Samuel Moreno, told him to put out the fire, but said King relit it instead, and flames erupted. Moreno pressed his emergency button and a nurse came to douse the bed with a fire extinguisher.
Meanwhile, King left the room and made his way to the elevators before he was arrested and booked into the Volusia County Jail on a $15,000 bond, The Miami Herald reported.
The bed was damaged beyond repair and will cost $4,000 to replace, a hospital administrator told WKMG-TV.
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