PARAMEDIC ON LEAVE AFTER MARIJUANA FOUND IN HIS DUFFEL BAG

A Collier County paramedic is on administrative leave with pay after
a Naples police detective, responding to an anonymous tip, found
marijuana inside the paramedic's personal bag at a Naples fire
station on Saturday.

Lt. Eric Timothy Havens, 29, an almost 10-year veteran of the Collier
County Emergency Medical Services, was arrested at after 10 p.m.
Saturday after investigators found four bags of marijuana inside his
padlocked personal duffel bag. The arrest was made at Naples Fire
Station No. 2, 977 26th Ave. N.

The investigators were led to Havens after receiving an anonymous tip
about an hour earlier.

Havens' attorney, Stephen Ostrow, said he believes the drugs were
planted and his client was set up. He would not state on the record
who he thinks would have set Havens up.

"It is our position that it was a plant," Ostrow said. "We feel that
there was somebody that had it in for Mr. Havens and they planted the
marijuana and called in anonymously so it would be found.

"Mr. Havens is, in my opinion ... absolutely clean. I don't believe
he's ever taken drugs and he has definitely not sold drugs."

Records indicate that at 8:36 p.m. the Collier County Sheriff's
Office Dispatch Center received a call from a woman who said her
mother fell at her home at 954 Goodlette-Frank Road and needed help.
The woman explained that she was not with her mother and was calling
from a different location.

The call was determined to be unfounded when paramedics could not
locate the patient after 45 minutes. Calls to the number the
"daughter" left as a call-back number revealed it to be a fax machine.

Then at 8:40 p.m. the city of Naples dispatch center received a call
from an anonymous man using a Kmart pay phone who reported a fire at
4023 Old Trail Way. Firefighters were dispatched to the address, but
there was no fire or smoke, and the caller was not found.

Authorities said the two unfounded calls resulted in Naples Fire
Station No. 2 being empty for 20 to 30 minutes.

Then, at 9:14 p.m., the Naples police received an anonymous telephone
call about a man named Eric with blond hair who was in possession of
marijuana at the Naples fire station. Investigators determined that
Havens was on duty at the time and responded to the station to speak
to him. When Havens returned to the station, the investigators were waiting.

At about 10:05 p.m. the investigators used a drug-sniffing dog to
check Havens' car, a booking report said. The dog indicated there was
a presence of drugs on driver's side of the vehicle, but no drugs
were found after the vehicle was searched.

Investigators then asked to search Havens' personal items within the
station. After Havens unlocked a padlocked orange duffel bag,
investigators found a plastic bag with four cellophane bags of
marijuana inside. According to the booking report, the doors to the
fire station were locked and only employees of the fire station have
access to the building.

Havens was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana not more
than 20 grams, and was placed on administrative leave with pay.
According to a Personnel Action Report released by the Collier County
EMS, Havens currently earns $14.59 an hour.

Assistant County Attorney Scott Teach said his office currently is
reviewing the case.

"We don't know anything other than an employee was arrested. We know
the alleged reasons for the arrest," Teach said. "What we need to do
is review the facts and then decide where to go from here."

Havens, who has an associate's degree from Edison Community College
in Emergency Medical Services Technology, was hired by Collier County
in 1997. On his most recent performance evaluation, Havens was rated
"highly successful." In 1999 he signed an oath that he was not
addicted to drugs or alcohol.

Havens' father, Greg Havens, 54, said his son was being targeted by
people who have been threatening him for more than a year.

"They figured, boy, they're going to sink him, which they have,
because his reputation has been trashed," Greg Havens said. "It's so
obvious the boy was set up. There's no proof of who did it, but there
is a preponderance of evidence of who did it."