Former PSU player wreaks havoc in Atlantic City

A former Pennsylvania State University football player from Drexel Hill wreaked havoc in the Atlantic City police and fire headquarters Tuesday morning when he grabbed a fire extinguisher and sprayed it at officers, injuring more than a dozen people and leading to a full evacuation of the building.

It took several officers to subdue the 6-foot-4-inch Thomas McHugh, 29, who got onto a restricted floor of the Atlantic Avenue public safety building, filled it with powdery fumes from the extinguisher, and damaged a conference room during the chaos, police said.

Nine city employees, six officers, and three civilian employees were taken to hospitals for treatment of eye and lung irritations from the chemicals. Three officers were sprayed directly in the face, police said, and all court proceedings for the day were halted while a cleaning crew came in.

It marked the third arrest in less than 24 hours for McHugh, who was arrested twice Monday after Atlantic City police found him behaving erratically. He was apparently released from a night in jail moments before his attack with the fire extinguisher.

McHugh was taken to a hospital for psychiatric evaluation and is being held on $100,000 bail. He was charged with aggravated assault on police, resisting arrest, criminal mischief, and related offenses.

McHugh's relatives could not be reached for comment Tuesday. An uncle, Don Myers, told NBC10 that McHugh has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

McHugh, a standout offensive lineman at Monsignor Bonner High School in Drexel Hill, played for the Nittany Lions until then-coach Joe Paterno ousted him from the team for getting into trouble off the field. In October 2003, McHugh, then a sophomore, was cited for harassment for slapping a woman near a parking garage near campus, as well as public drunkenness.

On Monday, police arrested an agitated McHugh shortly after 6 p.m. at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Absecon Boulevard after getting reports that he was "chasing and scaring kids," police said. McHugh was waving his arms and yelling when police charged him with disorderly conduct, they said. He was released about 9 p.m. on a summons to appear in court.

A little more than two hours later, McHugh stole items from a convenience store at Albany and Ventnor Avenues, police said. Officers found him a few blocks away, again yelling, cursing, and rambling. He was released about 8 a.m., again with a summons.

About 8:10 a.m., McHugh somehow made his way to the fourth floor of the building, which houses the administrative offices for the police and fire departments. When officers asked what he was doing there, McHugh responded with incoherent statements, police said, then abruptly seized a wall-mounted extinguisher and set it off.