A man who allegedly punched an emergency medical responder because he wanted to “go back to jail” pleaded not guilty in Mower County District Court on Monday.

Russell Allen Spoors, 33, of Austin is charged with felony fourth-degree assault of an emergency medical personnel member.

According to the court report, police and medical personnel responded to a call to Spoors’ home because he reportedly was “not acting right.”

Spoors had previously been hospitalized for mental health reasons.

Spoors told police he wanted to kill himself because he could not handle some tooth pain.  He agreed to go to the hospital with the ambulance crew.

He started to walk toward the street and was corrected by a member of the crew. Spoors then got off the street and punched a member of the ambulance crew on the right side of the face.

Police arrested Spoors and took him to the hospital, where he was cleared to go to the Mower County Jail.

Spoors told an officer that he had smoked methamphetamine and punched the ambulance crew member because he wanted to “go back to jail.”

Spoors’ pre-trial appearance is scheduled for Dec. 1.