BRIDGEWATER — A Patterson Heights man faces charges Wednesday after an alleged assault of two Medic Rescue workers who were trying to assist him after a car accident.
Andrew M. Rimoldi, 28, was charged with aggravated assault, terroristic threats, reckless endangerment, harassment, reckless driving and following too closely after his car flipped on its roof in a crash on Route 51.
Bridgewater police responded to the accident near Leopard Lane at 11:45 a.m. Aug. 22, according to the police report.
Medic Rescue was already at the scene, where two EMS workers were attempting to remove the driver from the overturned vehicle, police said. The driver, later identified as Rimoldi, became combative and threatened to kill the medics if they came near him, the report stated.
Eventually, the medics were able to get Rimoldi out of the vehicle and onto a stretcher. However, as he was loaded into the ambulance, Rimoldi tried to light one of the medic's clothes on fire with a lighter, according to the police report.
Rimoldi calmed down once he was in the ambulance, police said, so the officer left to begin the accident investigation.
The officer then heard one of the medics scream for help and saw the female medic fall across the ambulance, police said. She said Rimoldi used his feet to kick her in the stomach. The male medic said Rimoldi had punched him in the face during the incident, police said.
It took the police officer, two medics and two firefighters to restrain Rimoldi, the report said. Rimoldi was transported to Allegheny General Hospital.
People who were in the car in front of Rimoldi told police they were rear-ended by his car, and when they looked back all they saw was "debris and a cloud of dust" behind them. Their vehicle had damage to the rear end, police said.
Other witnesses said traffic was flowing normally until Rimoldi's vehicle hit the car in front of it, went off the road and up an embankment that caused it to overturn, police said.
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