** Florida man charged after faking 911 call after he is locked out from hotel room
** Greek paramedic charged with extorting money from family of patient
UNITED STATES NEWS
** A Fort Myers, Florida man has been charged with misuse of 911 for hailing an ambulance for a fake emergency after he locked himself out of his hotel room. RTV 6 (Stephanie Tinoco/November 3) said the man, who said his 4-year-old daughter was choking on a candy in the locked room, readily admitted the ruse when emergency services showed up. According to the news site, police, fire, and EMS all responded to the premises with lights and sirens. The urgency of the call had been upped when the man said he was uncertain whether or not his daughter was breathing. Once hotel management opened the room, police found no emergency and no child. By Friday, the unidentified man remained in jail.
GREECE NEWS
** An Athens paramedic has been arrested for allegedly attempting to extort money from the family of a patient requiring surgery. That is the word from The Greek Reporter (Philip Chrysopoulos/November 4) which said the EMS practitioner was taken into custody alongside both a neurosurgeon and an anesthetist. All three were apparently jointly involved in the scheme. According to police, the paramedic approached the patient’s family asking for money and threatening a withdrawal of surgical service if they did not comply. The relative paid the paramedic 50 euros and then called police. The trio worked at the Evangelismos public hospital. There is no word on their initial court date and names have not yet been released.
