PARAPLEGIC PATIENT ACCUSED OF DRUG DEALING

Arrest At Hospital

A patient at St. Michael's Hospital has been arrested after allegedly
dealing drugs out of the hospital's coffee shop.

An undercover police officer was invited to St. Michael's hospital for a
drug deal as part of an ongoing investigation by Toronto police's drug
squad. He was met by the patient, dressed in a hospital gown and sitting
in a wheelchair, in the coffee shop where he completed the deal, police
said yesterday.

The patient returned to his 14th floor hospital room, where he was arrested.

"[The] drug dealer attended, in a hospital gown, in a wheelchair; he's a
paraplegic. Drug-related conversation took place, [the] transaction took
place within the hospital," Staff Insp. Mario Di Tommaso, who heads the
drug squad, told Global News.

"During the search ... my officers located a loaded .9 mm pistol, a
bulletproof vest and a quantity of cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana."

[name redacted], 22, faces 11 charges of possession and trafficking,
including possession of marijuana, possession of cocaine, possession of
MDMA, also known as ecstasy, and unauthorized possession of a firearm.

[name redacted] this month launched a $17-million lawsuit against the
province and medical staff at the Don Jail. The paraplegic alleges he was
mistreated and humiliated while locked up there in 2007 on drug charges.

He is in police custody, but remains in hospital. He will face the charges
at Old City Hall court when he is well enough to be released.

In a statement, St. Michael's Hospital said its security team is meeting
with staff and physicians to determine if there are safety measures that
can be improved, and are "co-operating with a police investigation of a
patient."