WATCH ABOVE: A Maryland TV station was evacuated as police looked for a man who smashed a truck through the station lobby.
TORONTO – A man claiming to be God slammed into a Baltimore-area television station Tuesday with a stolen landscaping truck, then watched live news footage of the aftermath before he was arrested.
Baltimore County police say the 29-year-old man spent nearly five hours inside the WMAR-TV station in Towson, Maryland watching journalists deliver live reports from just outside the building. He was taken into custody around 4 p.m.
Police says no one was injured during the incident, but added the suspect was “ranting and raving” incoherently when he was arrested.
“From the beginning it was clear we were dealing with an emotionally disturbed subject,” said Baltimore County Police Chief James Johnson.
The events began unfolding just before noon when police received two 911 calls about a man screaming and banging against the gates of the television station. The second call reported he had driven a truck through the front doors and into the lobby.
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Michael Marion, who witnessed the events, told reporters he heard someone outside the security area demanding to be let in. According to Marion the man yelled “I am God, I am God” before Marion heard a series of crashes and saw the truck burst through the doors into the lobby.
The building was evacuated before a SWAT team entered to apprehend the suspect, police said.
*With files from The Associated Press
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