WEST POINT – A patient at North Mississippi Medical Center-West Point was arrested Tuesday after allegedly smashing several receptionist windows in the hospital’s emergency room.

Tyler Bell, 40, was arrested and charged with felony malicious mischief over $1,000 by the West Point Police Department, Chief Michael Edwards told The Dispatch.

At about 7 a.m., officers received a call about a disturbance at the hospital’s emergency room, Edwards said. Investigators, after arriving on scene, found several of the glass panes of the receptionist booth smashed, glass shards scattered across the floor and several chairs overturned in the waiting room.

Based on witness statements, Edwards said Bell allegedly arrived in the hospital waiting room and, unprompted, quickly became violent by grabbing a chair and destroying several of the receptionist booth’s glass panes with it.

“We did get that much information, that a chair was used,” Edwards told The Dispatch. “I don’t know whether it was thrown or whether he took the chair and beat it (against the glass panes). I’m not really sure.”

Bell was arrested by officers without incident, and none of the other patients or hospital staff were injured.

Edwards said investigators believe Bell was suffering from mental health-related issues that led to the outburst.

Bell was taken to Clay County Detention Center. Bond had not been set as of Wednesday afternoon.

The investigation is ongoing, Edwards said, and additional charges are possible.

In a statement to The Dispatch, Deborah Roberts Pugh, senior marketing specialist with North Mississippi Medical Services, confirmed the incident and said that Bell was arrested by officers shortly after leaving the campus.