A woman accused of pulling a knife in a hospital has pleaded not guilty to the crime

A woman arrested after allegedly brandishing a knife in the lobby of Logan Health Medical Center in Kalispell on New Year’s Eve faces a charge of assault with a weapon.

Amber Rose Wentzl, 44, pleaded not guilty to the crime before Judge Danny Coffman in Flathead County District Court on Jan. 16. The next day, she was released from the county jail on recognizance. The date of her next scheduled court appearance is unknown.

Wenzel had allegedly spent most of the day high when she was dropped off at the hospital around 4:55 p.m. on Dec. 31, according to court documents. Security officers, alerted to a woman armed with a knife in the lobby, soon confronted Wenzel, court documents state. They described her to investigators as “holding, waving and showing a knife.”

According to court documents, when Wentzl allegedly approached one of the security officers, he used his Taser. They handcuffed her after she fell to the ground.

Security personnel told arriving Kalispell police officers that Wentz allegedly said, “Do you want?” during the confrontation.

Surveillance footage, preserved by investigators, allegedly shows Wentzl pulling out a knife as she walks into the waiting area. It shows her wandering around and brandishing a blade, upsetting other people around her, court documents state. The father of one of the families present later told authorities he grabbed a chair to throw at her if she attacked him, according to court documents.

Investigators also seized a kitchen knife as physical evidence.

After getting into the patrol car, Wentzl allegedly told the officer to “take her to jail because she would have stabbed him in the throat,” court documents state.

News editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 758-4430 or [email protected].