POLICE CHARGE MEDIC

Cops Say Needle Story Phony

THE TORONTO paramedic who said he had a needle put to his neck by two
women planning to rob him of drugs has been charged with making up the
story. The report of the Oct. 18 attack moved Toronto's ambulance
service to abandon its one-person emergency response units at night.
It now uses two-person units from 7 p.m. until 7 a.m.

"It changed the way they did business," said 51 Division Det. Hugh
Wong, adding the division's street-crime unit had been scouring the
downtown's underbelly since the attack looking for two drug users.

"The investigation is still continuing in relation to what he's told
us now, but as a result of what he's told us, he's facing ... two
charges," Wong said. The medic claimed he had been flagged down by a
woman who pointed out another woman lying on the ground needing help
at Church and Wood Sts.

Police were told the supposedly ill woman pulled out a needle as he
bent over to look at her and demanded narcotics. The medic supposedly
injured his shoulder when he swung a defibrillator at the woman.

Toronto EMS spokesman Larry Roberts said the allegations are
"disappointing, obviously.

"We just heard about it," he said. "He's off the road pending his
court appearances."

The policy changes won't be undone for now.

"I think the issues (of violence) are still there ... regardless of
this," Roberts said.