Steven Henshaw: Medic pepper-sprayed during COVID call in northeast Berks
Jan. 18—One of two Kutztown Ambulance medics was hit by pepper spray at the front door of a home when they responded to a call about a 20-year-old woman with COVID-19 symptoms, authorities said Tuesday.
The incident occurred Friday about 10 a.m. in the 15000 block of Kutztown Road in Maxatawny Township.
According to state police:
The boyfriend of the 20-year-old woman answered the door and reportedly told the two male emergency medical technicians that his girlfriend, with whom he resides, "doesn't want to go to the hospital." They told him they needed to hear that from her.
The boyfriend, identified as Kasey C. Stofko, 32, yelled to his girlfriend to come to the door to speak to the medics.
While standing in the doorway, she reportedly said, "He told me that you guys are going to kill me."
A moment after making that statement, she left the doorway and Stoffko appeared, yelling something inaudible as he sprayed an orange-colored liquid out onto the porch.
Both medics, who were wearing breathing apparatus because of the nature of the call, ran off the porch in opposite directions, with one taking a direct hit of spray.
The other medic, who wasn't directly hit, ran around the mobile home to his partner, whose eyes were watering excessively and face becoming red.
He grabbed his partner by the shirt collar and guided him to the MedEvac helicopter station at the front of the mobile home park. From there, they called for assistance from another ambulance unit and state police.
The injured medic was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital Cedar Crest near Allentown for treatment.
Trooper Shareef Mays arrived and noticed an ambulance near the home and two EMT breathing apparatus in the street, but did not see any ambulance personnel.
Before knocking on the front door, he heard Stofko yelling, "They're going to kill you." He recognized Stofko's voice from prior incidents.
He knocked and Stofko answered, stating that he pepper sprayed the medics for coming onto his property.
He further stated that he believed they were going to kill his girlfriend.
Mays told Stofko to come outside so they could talk. Stofko balked, saying he didn't do anything wrong, and backed into the home. Mays entered and observed Stofko to be agitated and upset.
"I continued to calm Stofko down," Mays wrote in the probable cause affidavit.
"I told Stofko that he can't pepper spray the EMTs and he would have to come with me. Stofko related he knew what he did was wrong, but the EMTs are trying to kill his girlfriend because she has COVID-19."
Stofko was taken into custody without further incident.
The girlfriend told the trooper she called her doctor's office that day complaining that she was having difficulty breathing, which she believed was related to having COVID.
Stofko was charged with aggravated and simple assault and harassment.
After arraignment before District Judge Kim L. Bagenstose in Reading Central Court, he was committed to Berks County Prison in lieu of $15,000 bail. Court records indicate he had not posted bail as of Tuesday afternoon.
