Page 20 - Florida Sentinel 12-11-18

National
Lawsuit: Georgia Surgeon
New York City Officer To Face Disciplinary Trial For Chokehold Death Of Eric Garner
Says He Returned From
Military Service To Find
It’s been four long years on the road to justice for Eric Garner, but on Thursday, an administrative judge set New York Police Officer Daniel Pantaleo’s trial date for May.
As NBC New York notes, Pantaleo is accused in the chokehold death of Garner, a restraint banned by the New York Police Department and a restraint that the medical ex- aminer said contributed to the 43-year-old father’s July 2014 death.
Footage of Garner’s final moments shocked and in-
flamed the nation, after he was heard repeatedly pleading on camera “I can’t breathe,” even as Pantaleo kept his arm locked around his neck.
Ever since the 2014 en- counter on Staten Island that left Garner dead, Pantaleo has been on paid desk duty. A grand jury had previously de- clined to indict Pantaleo over Garner’s death. And now it all comes down to this, with the Administrative Prosecution Unit of the Civilian Complaint Review Board set to prosecute the case against the cop.
That He Lost His Job
Dr. William Cooper has filed a federal lawsuit claim- ing he returned home from four months of active duty de- ployment in the Middle East to find his medical job at WellStar Health System in Georgia had been given to someone else.
The lawsuit proclaims: “This is an action to vindicate the rights of an American sol- dier.”
“It’s about veterans. It’s about the military. It’s about people being treated the right way,” Dr. Cooper told WSB- TV2.
Upon his return to the hospital, Cooper, the med- ical director of Cardiovascular surgery for WellStar, claims he was offered a less presti- gious post with lower pay at
New York Police Officer Daniel Pantaleo has been on paid desk duty since the July 2014 death of Eric Garner, and will finally face a disciplinary trial in May.
3 Sonic Drive-In Employees Arrested After Ecstasy Pill Found In Kid’s Meal, Police Say
Tanisha Dancer, 30; Jonathan Roberson, 35; Jose Molina, 22, were arrested after an ecstasy pill was found in a wrapper of a kid's meal.
After conducting a wide- ranging and devastating fraud scheme, six Michigan doctors were indicted Thursday for their involvement in driving the nation’s opioid crisis by prescribing more than 13 mil- lion doses of the pain meds and pilfering nearly $500 million from Medicare and Medicaid.
“The damage that opioid distribution has done to our community and to the United States as a whole has been dev- astating,” U. S. Attorney Mat- thew Schneider said in a statement Thursday to The De- troit News reports. “Health-
care professionals who prey on patients who are addicted to opioids in order to line their pockets is particularly egre- gious.”
The doctors charged are: Dr. Rajendra Bothra, Dr. Eric Backos, Dr. Ganiu Edu, Dr. David Lewis, Dr. Christopher Russo, and Dr. Ronald Kufner.
The fraud scheme is one of the largest in Michigan history, and one of the largest nation- wide, according to reports and involves three medical pain clinics.
The clinics were owned by Bothra, a respected surgeon who was reportedly presented with the highest civilian honor to be given in India, known as the Padmashri, in 1999.
DR. WILLIAM COOPER
another hospital.
“If this can happen to him,
this can happen to others. It’s not patriotic and that’s why this lawsuit is here,” his lawyer, Richard Val- ladares, told WSB-TV2.
Six Michigan Doctors Indicted For Driving Nation’s Opioid Crisis
Ex-Fiancé Of Slain Navy Chief Petty Officer Jailed In Florida On Murder Charge
Three employees at a Texas Sonic Drive-In were arrested Thursday after an ecstasy pill was found in a kid’s meal given to a 4-year-old boy, po- lice said.
Tanisha Dancer, 30, Jonathan Roberson, 35, and Jose Molina, 22, were arrested after the boy’s 11- year-old sister unwrapped a hamburger from a Sonic kid’s meal and found the drug Thursday night, FOX7 Austin reported.
The boy’s parents then brought the fast food order to the police station in Taylor, where the pill tested positive for ecstasy.
Officers went to the Sonic Drive-In on Friday and ar-
rested Dancer, the manager, Roberson and Molina, both employees at the fast food restaurant.
Dancer, who was ar- rested on her outstanding warrant for a parole violation out of Guadalupe County, had three ecstasy pills with her at the time of the arrest. She also faces charges of posses- sion of controlled substance.
Roberson was arrested on four outstanding warrants in Travis County. Molina was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana.
The trio may face addi- tional charges following an investigation with the Williamson County District Attorney’s Office.
The ex-fiancé of a Navy chief found dead in her Jack- sonville home only days after she was advanced is behind bars, charged with murdering her.
Danny Ray Beard, 36, was arrested by the Jack- sonville Sheriff’s Office and booked into a Duval County jail on Friday evening, ac- cording to his incarceration records. He’s being held without bond.
Authorities began probing the death of Chief Gas Tur- bine Systems Technician (Mechanical) Andrea L. Washington, 37, shortly after midnight on Sept. 17 when her body was discov- ered in her Itani Way home. She was assigned to the guided-missile cruiser Hue City, which is homeported in Mayport.
Naval Criminal Investiga- tive Service agents joined in
Chief Gas Turbine Systems Technician (Mechanical) An- drea L. Washington
the case but the primary sus- pect always was Beard, a civilian.
Washington had filed a police report on Sept. 2 and a petition for a domestic vio- lence protection order on Sept. 4 against him.
She alleged that he sav- agely beat her on Sept. 1 and “pulled a gun on me,” accord- ing to Duval County Court records obtained by Navy
Times.
A circuit court judge granted a temporary protec- tive order on Sept. 5 and a hearing to continue the tem- porary restraining order against Washington was scheduled for 12 days later but Washington never showed up.
She already was dead.
Turbine Systems Techni- cian (Electrical) 2nd Class Tara Parramore remem- bered Washington as a leader who “was never afraid to get her hands dirty and went tip for tap with the male engineers."
An enlisted surface war- fare specialist, Washington enlisted in May 2001 and served aboard the guided- missile destroyers Gonzalez and Laboon.
Her decorations included three Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals.
PAGE 20 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2018