It's not the sort of thing you expect to happen at a family resort. Or a family-run supermarket.

West Lampeter Township police were dispatched to the Willow Valley Resort, and later Darrenkamp's Market, both on Willow Street Pike, at 10:52 p.m. Friday to reports of a naked male tearing up the hallways and lounge at the hotel, police said.

Before the end of the rampage by the unclothed man, identified by police as Nicholas Hadzick, 28, of Freeland, some office space at the resort would be trashed and a forklift would be driven into an interior wall, damaging some overhead sewer pipe as well. Hadzick would then cross the street to run amok at Darrenkamp's in the Willow Valley Shopping Center, causing more destruction.

"He was under the influence of something," said Blaise Holzbauer, Willow Valley executive vice president and general manager. Holzbauer said Hadzick was a guest at the resort, and apparently went on his spree after attending an off-property party before returning to his room, falling asleep, and waking up.

Hadzick's rampage "really went undetected," Holzbauer said, until the forklift striking the wall set off a smoke alarm, which alerted security. The forklift was on the premises as part of an ongoing renovation at the resort, Holzbauer said. Police said at least one witness saw Hadzick gain access to a maintenance garage under some guest rooms to get the forklift.

No guests or staff at the hotel were in any danger, Holzbauer said, adding that Hadzick was staying in the hotel's atrium building, which houses Willow Valley's Palm Court.

Damages were still being assessed as of Saturday, Holzbauer said.

"It could have been a lot worse," he noted.

But as police searched Willow Valley for Hadzick, it quickly became apparent the incident wasn't over. Units were dispatched to Darrenkamp's for reports of Hadzick causing damage in that store.

After apparently gaining access through a rear loading dock door, he accomplished a lot in a short time, said Joe Darrenkamp, company president, who was called into the store around 11:30 p.m. The store is open 24 hours.

"He wasn't in the store long," Darrenkamp said. However, "he was on a mission."

Darrenkamp said Hadzick threw chairs in the market's cafe area, tossed a 300-pound pizza oven to the floor, as well as three scales, valued at about $7,000 each. "One was totaled," Darrenkamp said. Also damaged was a $90,000 meat-wrapping machine, Darrenkamp said, several soda coolers and the windshield of a delivery truck.

Becky Bednar, front-end supervisor at Darrenkamp's said she didn't see Hadzick at first from her office, but saw chairs flying across the floor. "That's when I called 911," she said. Bednar said customers remained calm, moving out of line when Hadzick told them. She added that staff remained calm as well, knowing not to agitate him. As for her own recollection of the incident, Bednar joked, "It was more fun than a girl should have."

Hadzick also apparently threatened a man contracted to clean the market's floors by raising a chair at him and he allegedly raised a fist at a cashier, Darrenkamp said. Otherwise, "no one was hurt, thank God." And there was at least one "guardian angel" at the store, an unidentified man who tried to calm Hadzick down, buying him a pack of cigarettes.

A store video shows a young man wearing jeans, a white shirt and a jacket vest walking alongside the naked Hadzick, who appears to have a cigarette in his mouth.

"I'd like to thank him 100 times," Darrenkamp said, adding he was eager to know the Good Samaritan's identity. "It was amazingly brave of this person," agreed Bednar.

Hadzick was arrested without incident, police reports said. "He gave up very easily — bent over, on his knees," Darrenkamp said. Later, however, Darrenkamp said he observed Hadzick pounding his shackled feet on the inside window of the police car in which he was being held. "He was in another world," Darrenkamp said of Hadzick's condition.

Darrenkamp was also working on assessing damages Saturday, but guessed them to be in the neighborhood of $40,000.

Police charged Hadzick with two felony counts of risking a catastrophe; three felony counts of criminal mischief; two misdemeanor counts of simple assault; two misdemeanor counts of open lewdness and two summary counts of public drunkenness. After being held for arraignment at Lancaster City Police Department, Hadzick was committed to Lancaster County Prison on $200,000 bail.

Telephone messages left at three separate listings for a Nicholas Hadzick in the Freeland area were not returned by press time.

Despite the damage to his store, Darrenkamp managed to find some humor in the situation, noting a sign on the property stating "no shirt, no shoes, no service."

"Maybe," he joked, "we should add 'pants' and 'underwear'."

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Steve Kopfinger is a Sunday News staff writer. Contact him at skopfinger@lnpnews.com or at 291-8799.
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