Woman charged for drugs, outburst at ML hospital
MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake woman is facing charges in connection with an outburst at a Moses Lake hospital. Police reportedly found methamphetamine and a meth pipe in her backpack.
Grant County prosecutors charged Rikkianne Garcia Lalk, 23, of Moses Lake, in Grant County Superior Court with possession of a controlled substance and interference with a healthcare facility.
The charges related to an incident on Aug. 14 when the Moses Lake Police Department received a call of an unruly patient, Garcia Lalk, at Samaritan Hospital. When a MLPD officer arrived at the hospital three security staff members and a doctor were in the parking lot holding Garcia Lalk on the ground, with her feet and hands behind her back, according to court documents.
Garcia Lalk was yelling and a security staff member advised Garcia Lalk was causing a disturbance inside the hospital and she was asked to leave, but she refused and security had to escort her out. She allegedly started to kick and swing at staff, the reason why she was placed on the ground until police arrived. Police learned Garcia Lalk had been brought into the hospital by the Grant County Sheriff’s Office after she requested medical aid. Court records state when she was taken into the triage room at the hospital and asked why she needed to be seen she started to act out and became disruptive.
“(An ER nurse) said Garcia Lalk spoke unintelligibly and swore at her. Garcia Lalk was unresponsive to (the nurse’s) questions and did not appear to want any help from the facility,” wrote an MLPD officer.
After Garcia Lalk calmed down police searched a backpack she was carrying and reportedly located a small baggy containing a white crystal residue, which later tested positive as methamphetamine, in one of the pockets. In addition, police reportedly located a glass pipe with a broken end containing a white residue in the same pocket where the baggy was found. Police records do not give a motive for Garcia Lalk’s outburst at the hospital.
Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.