LOWELL, Mass. — A 45-year-old man was arrested Tuesday morning after allegedly removing his colostomy bag and hurling it at police officers and hospital staff inside the emergency room of Lowell General Hospital’s Saints Campus, authorities said.
The suspect, Antonio Santiago, who is listed as homeless in court documents, was charged with eight counts of assault with a dangerous weapon — one for each person present during the incident — as well as trespassing after notice, according to the Lowell Police Department.
Police say the incident began around 5:45 a.m., when officers responded to reports of two men who refused to leave the hospital after being discharged. While one of the men complied, Santiago allegedly refused to go, demanding that staff change his colostomy bag before he would exit.
Hospital personnel told police they had already provided Santiago with the necessary supplies to change it himself but could not offer further medical assistance. Officers repeatedly asked Santiago to leave, but according to the report, he threatened to remove and throw his colostomy bag if staff did not comply with his request.
Moments later, Santiago allegedly followed through, removing the bag and throwing it across the room, narrowly missing two officers. The bag — filled with human waste — struck a plexiglass barrier in the emergency room, splattering fecal matter across the protective shield and floor, police said.
No one was injured, but the scene was described as “chaotic and unsanitary.”
Police later learned that this was not Santiago’s first such incident. A doctor provided officers with a letter stating that Santiago had previously been flagged as a “violent patient” and had allegedly thrown feces at staff on at least three other occasions when he became angry or refused treatment.
After his arrest, medical personnel cleaned Santiago’s exposed intestinal area and replaced his colostomy bag before he was transported to jail. He was arraigned later Tuesday in Lowell District Court before Judge John Coffey, who ordered him held without bail pending a hearing scheduled for Friday.
In addition to this incident, Santiago has two other pending cases in Lowell District Court. On September 29, he was arrested near Lowell High School for allegedly stealing an electric scooter while carrying bolt cutters and a broken bike lock. He was charged with larceny under $1,200, possession of burglarious tools, and trespassing.
Just hours before the hospital incident, Santiago was also arrested for allegedly trespassing in a Middlesex Street apartment building’s laundry room.
His attorney, Thomas Mixon, said Saturday that Santiago “wants to get help and get back in the community,” and criticized the hospital’s handling of the situation, arguing that if staff had changed the bag as requested, the incident might have been avoided.
“If they had just given him the help and changed the bag for him, the alleged incident wouldn’t have occurred,” Mixon said. “I’m going to get the medical records and see why they couldn’t do that.”
Police confirmed that Jonah Randle, 30, the man who accompanied Santiago to the hospital, was also arrested and charged with trespassing after refusing to leave the facility.
The hospital declined to comment on the ongoing case but confirmed that no staff members were injured during the incident.
