Jan. 21 -- The woman arrested after allegedly waving a knife around the lobby of Logan Health Medical Center in Kalispell on New Year's Eve is facing an assault with a weapon charge.
Amber Rose Wenzl, 44, pleaded not guilty to the felony before Judge Danni Coffman in Flathead County District Court on Jan. 16. She was released from the county jail the following day on her own recognizance. The date of her next scheduled appearance in court was not immediately available.
Wenzl allegedly had spent most of the day drinking when she was dropped off at the hospital about 4:55 p.m., Dec. 31, according to court documents. Security personnel, alerted about a woman armed with a knife in the lobby, came face-to-face with Wenzl soon after, court documents alleged. They described her to investigators as "holding, waving and pointing a knife."
When Wenzl allegedly approached one of the security officers, he deployed his Taser, according to court documents. They handcuffed her after she fell to the ground.
Security personnel told arriving Kalispell Police officers that Wenzl allegedly said "You want some?" during the confrontation.
Surveillance footage secured by investigators allegedly showed Wenzl pulling out the knife as she walked into the waiting area. It captured her wandering around and waving the blade, upsetting other people around her, court documents said. The father of one family present later told authorities he grabbed a chair to throw at her in case she attacked him, according to court documents.
Investigators also collected a kitchen knife as evidence.
After getting loaded into a patrol car, Wenzl allegedly told an officer to "take her to jail because she would have stabbed him in the throat," court documents said.
News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 758-4430 or [email protected].