INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A woman who said she was upset over her treatment at Indian River Medical Center is accused threatening to blow up the Vero Beach hospital.
Authorities arrested 25-year-old Alavah Moore, of the 400 block of 43rd Avenue, after they say she opened four oxygen tanks within the ER lobby and then set fire to twists of paper near the lobby doors. According to the arrest report, the arresting officer determined Moore intended to throw the lit paper through the doors to ignite the escaping oxygen.
Moore is currently being held at the county jail in lieu of $10,000 bond. She faces a felony charge of threatening to throw a destructive device and a misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief.
The incident occurred July 21 shortly before 7:30 p.m. when someone at the hospital reported a woman causing a disturbance and making threats against the hospital.
A Sheriff’s Office sergeant responded and escorted Moore from the lobby before being told of Moore’s alleged actions. As Moore was getting into a vehicle to leave the hospital, the sergeant was informed and he stopped her from leaving.
He then conducted an interview of the ER triage nurse, who told the sergeant that Moore had exited minor care and was very agitated when she asked the nurse for some paper. The nurse gave Moore paper, according to the report, which she then twisted up and placed outside the front entrance.
Moore then came back into the ER, according to the report, and turned four oxygen tanks to full pressure, and when the nurse asked Moore what she was doing, Moore said, “I’m gonna blow this b**ch up,” the nurse told the sergeant.
The nurse said that as he went to turn the tanks off, he noticed Moore back outside doing something at the entrance doors. The sergeant noted in his report that he initially observed what he thought was Moore discarding a cigarette but then discovered several pieces of twister paper on fire.
After taking Moore into custody, the sergeant read her her rights. Moore declined to speak to the sergeant about the incident other than to say that she “was tired of how they were treating her.” She did not elaborate on that treatment.
