Police allege knife-wielding man threatened paramedics who arrived to help

A man is accused of pulling a Bowie knife out from under his bed’s pillow and threatening paramedics after they arrived at his home to provide him with medical assistance.

Tyler Jon Rodney Coggan, 24, was charged with two counts of threatening to cause harm to a Commonwealth public official and one count of possessing a weapon with intent over the allegations.

Police allege in court documents that a woman called the ACT Ambulance Service at around 1 am on 8 June to say Coggan was in an altered state of consciousness after using drugs, and she asked for paramedics to attend his home in Crace.

Two paramedics arrived five minutes later and apparently found him lying on the floor of his bedroom, groaning.

The paramedics suggested taking him to hospital, but after getting up, he said something like, “I don’t want to go back to hospital”.

They tried to reassure him and talked about the importance of a medical assessment.

But Coggan allegedly walked back into his bedroom, pulled a 20 cm Bowie knife out from under his pillow, then turned to face the paramedics.

One of the paramedics yelled at the other that Coggan allegedly had a knife, then they ran out of the house, locked themselves in the ambulance and activated their duress alarm while waiting for police to arrive.

Police officers tried to find Coggan when they arrived but couldn’t locate him. When they spoke to him on the phone, he allegedly threatened to kill them if they came after him.

The paramedics later told police they felt confronted and held genuine fears for their safety during the alleged incident.

Coggan was arrested on Wednesday (26 June) before police allegedly seized the knife from his home.

He applied for bail in the ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday (27 June), which was opposed by the prosecutor, who said his alleged drug use was of concern.

However, Magistrate Jane Campbell decided to grant bail without needing to hear the arguments by Coggan’s defence lawyer.

She said the ambulance officers had been at his home due to his alleged altered state of consciousness at the time and she would impose bail conditions that he not contact those officers.

The matter was adjourned to 18 July. No pleas were entered.