ER patient set car on fire in hospital parking garage

An ER patient threw rocks at cars and set two cars on fire Saturday afternoon in a hospital parking garage.

The incident happened around 3 p.m. in the parking garage at Miami Valley Hospital, 1 Wyoming St., in Dayton.

Surveillance video captured the suspect, identified as Hussein Abdulah, 29, throwing rocks at cars, causing damage, and igniting a car, according to a Dayton police report. Video also recorded Abdulah light a trash can in a lower level of the parking garage and push it underneath a car. Miami Valley police were able to extinguish both fires, the report stated.

Miami Valley police detained Abdulah in the emergency room parking lot shortly after the fires. When he was stopped, police said he was looking into cars, and that he had been an ER patient earlier in the day. Why he sought treatment was not released.

According to the police report, A Honda Pilot had damage to its hood and front windshield; a Toyota 4 Runner had damage to the front passenger window and door; a Honda Civic had a scratch on the trunk; and a GMC Envoy had its front passenger and driver’s side windows broken out and there was a evidence of a fire inside the sport-utility vehicle.

The Envoy owner in a statement said, “I did not give anyone permission to set fire to my car today or bother it.”

Abdulah was booked into the Miami Valley Jail on suspicion of felony arson and four counts of criminal damaging. He is scheduled to appear Monday afternoon in court, online jail records show.