Man sparks bomb scare at hospital
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EUGENE, Ore. - The bomb squad responded to the emergency room at a downtown hospital Friday evening after a man showed up claiming to have a bomb inside of his bag, Eugene police said.
Patients and staff quickly evacuated that wing of Sacred Heat University District.
Police arrested Michael Jay Cole, 30 of Eugene, on a charge of disorderly conduct.
Police officials said that Cole was difficult to question, which they said could have been because of drug-use or or mental health problems.
Sergeant Chris Martis with the Eugene Police Department said that it is quite uncommon for someone to make a direct threat like this inside of a public building.
"He was eventually taken into custody for disorderly conduct and the backpack was examined by the bomb squad and rendered safe. No explosives were found in it," said Sergeant Martis.
The bomb squad neutralized the man's bag after examining it for potential explosives.
Police closed both 13th Ave. at Patterson St. as well as Hilyard St. at 14th while the Metro Explosives Disposal Unit investigated.
Ambulances were diverted to other hospitals due to the disruption.
At around 7:30 p.m. both Hilyard and 13th were re-opened to traffic.
mike cole is my best friend and i know him better than anyone and he is not crazy and he would do not anything to hurt anyone. while his actions cannot be justified the reason he got out of his mind like that is due to being in jail for 30 days prior to this then being released with no medications and no way to get his meds. i think that people need gto look at the procedures the jail "springfield and eugene" use when releasing people who take medications. that is soly the reason for his actions so maybe if the community can try to do something about this and give these people like mike more resources when released mmaybe we can prevent things like this from happening, department of corrections do it why arent our jails?
With the great crowd of regulars and cute bartenders at Max's Tavern across the street celebrating happy hour with great beer and buttery popcorn...we could have talked him out of it...Had we only known.Â
 Due to budget cuts at the jail I bet he's out in a day or 2...
and unless the jails do something more like give him some way to get his meds hell be right back in the same boat
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@Daren H ---with the charge of "disorderly conduct", that is actually conceivable. Disorderly conduct is such an absurd euphemism for what he did. Sounds like police are deflating charges to misdemeanor status to avoid locking up felons.
 @peace  @Daren They added robery (?!) to that bail was set at 280$ and he was initially set to be released at like 4 am last night but didn't make it back out before my husband left work at the hosp. at 6:30
@Doug Schley ---I retract my last sentence from the above written 3 days ago. And, thank you again for offering the most important preventive solution to this ever happening again. Hopefully, policy makers will read this thread and activate your advice immediately before people like your buddy end up with a bullet in their head.
@Doug Schley ---appreciated the info and clarification, AND admire you for sticking up for your BRO. As a stranger to this man I already mentioned my regret that if he had just gone to Max's where somebody could have talked him down with a cold one. But, Alc.might have just made him worse.Last year a friend of mine lost his marbles after his shrink died. There was a 1 month delay before he could find another shrink to prescribe him his Adderall (speed in a pill?), Lexapro (anti-depressant?), oxi-something? (synthetic morphine) and some other psychotropic stuff. I got him drunk to ease his pain and suffering, but it just made him worse after the beer wore off. Luckily, he never broke the law before he got re-prescribed. Be nice if the Psy. community in general had better contingency planning for all potential barriers to people on medication. Blaming the jail authorities is not the only answer. With some anti-depressants taking so long to kick in even AFTER being released from jail...it is a travesty.
once again he is not crazy6 he needs meds thats all the guy is a really good person
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@Evielyn @Daren ---Doctor Evielyn, I believe you. Sounds like that epic isode off M.A.S.H where the nut job NK soldier has a grenade right in the hospital. Problem is that Eugene is not a MASH unit.  And, the NK soldier really had a grenade and really was out of his mind. Whether you are a doctor or a nurse...red cross ANGELS need more money...everywhere. Thank you for saving lives. A threat like that in a hospital zone deserves the punishiment of death, by civilian peace time law, AND military law.  Â
If anyone who was in a life or death emergency had been diverted to either Riverbend, or McKenzie hospital would have died because of the delay, this person that claimed to have a bomb should be charged with murder.
 @Sparky62 If no-one died, then attempted murder. One count for every person in the hospital...
well then i guess the people responsable for not providing him with adequate meds upon release from jail should take that charge. and by u saying that6 it shows what a cold hearted person you really are, i sure hope u dont work at the hospital cause i would hate to think of someone like u taking care of anyone thats sick.
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@Doug Schley ---upon release from jail? Too late! If he was deprived of his meds while in jail, the damage is done. A lot of meds take more time than the incarceration period to kick in. And only a few days to get kicked out of his system. Dealing with dispensing meds in jail is a nightmare for all authorties involved. What do you do with the guy in the drunk tank screaming in agony for his oxycontin? Give him his dose and let the synergy of Alc. and oxy kill him? Do you give her Xanax (Alc. in a pill) to make her time in jail more pleasant...so she never has to detox from the very alc. that got her locked up in jail for drunk driving?
Often times, the jailbird is so uncooperative/loaded/mentally impaired that the jail staff cannot even know what medication is hypothetically necessary to prevent recidivism.If what the patient was taking got him locked up to begin with, then what of the other inmates safety? And, too many people on meds get locked up for abusing their meds, by not taking them, mixing them with Alc. or other meds, and of course selling and bartering their meds for more dangerous drugs.
I am going to give the Jail staff a get out of jail for free card on this one. And, it is too sad that your friend had to resort to a bomb threat at a hospital to finally get the meds he so desperately needed. Hopefully, he won't need a minder to make sure he takes them as directed, and a dog tag to alert the authorities of his prescription needs the next time he gets thrown in the pokey.
@Maneir Ikre @Sparky62 ---fortunately, he pulled this terrorist stunt, when most of the college students were still away. Had it been high season in the emergency room...
Hope and pray no babies were born in the travel to Riverbend or McKenzie. Child birth is stressful enough.