Man Accused Of Threatening Stamford Hospital Staff With Knife: Police

STAMFORD, CT — A 56-year-old man accused of threatening Emergency Room staff with a pocket knife at Stamford Hospital was arrested Wednesday night, after police and hospital security worked in tandem to control the situation and bring it to a conclusion, Asst. Stamford Police Chief Richard Conklin said.

Candido Jerez, who is homeless, was charged with second-degree threatening, carrying a dangerous weapon, interfering with police and breach of peace, Conklin said, noting that he was also charged with assaulting a police officer after he spat on an officer while trying to get processed at police headquarters.

Jerez was arrested earlier in the day on May 3 by Metropolitan Transportation Authority police on a minor larceny charge, and he was released and brought to Stamford Hospital to be evaluated, Conklin said.

At 7:37 p.m., police received a call from hospital employees who said Jerez took out a pocket knife and began to threaten staff members in the ER.

"We work very closely with the Stamford Hospital security. They have very top notch security, and we're plugged in with them," Conklin said. "We were able to isolate [Jerez] with a knife in a room by himself, which really brought the danger down."

After "quite a bit of dialogue," Conklin said a patrol officer deployed his taser which incapacitated Jerez temporarily so he could be disarmed and arrested.

"Collectively this was a very nice job by our patrol division who reacted to this emergency call very quickly, working with hospital security to take this party into custody, and certainly we're very pleased with the outcome and response," Conklin said, acknowledging that a hospital ER can often be a chaotic environment.

"My hats off to the staff and security that works there," Conklin added.

At police headquarters, Jerez refused to be photographed and fingerprinted, Conklin said. Officers discovered two outstanding PRAWN (Paperless Arrest Warrant Network) warrants related to failure to appear on larceny charges, Conklin said.

The charges stemming from the incident at the hospital came with a court-set bond of $100,000. The PRAWN warrants totaled $15,000.