ROCKPORT, Maine — A Thomaston man was charged Friday with causing extensive damage to an emergency department room at MaineHealth Pen Bay Hospital.
Benjamin Witham, 22, was arrested and charged with aggravated criminal mischief in relation to the incident. An affidavit filed by the Rockport Police Department with the state court in Knox County alleges the damage exceeded $32,000.
According to the affidavit, Witham had complained the bed he was in was uncomfortable and he was moved to a different room where he then began trashing the room. He pulled cords and other things off the wall, and then destroyed medical equipment including a monitor and telephone, broke a sink which flooded the room, then swung on an overhead light, and urinated on the floor, according to the police report.
No one was injured.
Witham was taken to the Knox County Jail and made his initial court appearance via Zoom on the charge. Judge Sarah Gilbert set bail at $10,000. He is required to take medications as prescribed, not return to Pen Bay Hospital unless it is a medical emergency, and adhere to terms of probation on an earlier charge.
Workplace violence and threats have been an increasing concern at hospitals across the country. In 2025, MaineHealth announced security steps it had taken at both Pen Bay Hospital and Waldo County Hospital in Belfast.
Twenty-five new cameras were installed at Pen Bay and eight new cameras at Waldo County, expanding views of high-traffic areas. In addition, the hospital increased by 25 the number of locations at Pen Bay where staff badges are required to enter. At Waldo, 19 new locations requiring staff badges were added.
Panic buttons were installed in the emergency department acute psychiatric area, and emergency department employees were given wearable panic buttons. A total of 36 new panic buttons were installed combined in the two midcoast hospitals.
MaineHealth noted that since it implemented these and other changes, the number of incidents had declined.
This story appears through a media partnership with Midcoast Villager.
