Firefighter Paramedic arrested in drug case
A Monroe County Fire Rescue Firefighter Paramedic assigned to the Trauma Star helicopter program has been arrested for tampering with evidence and official misconduct.
The arrest is the result of an investigation conducted by the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Unit.
“Although this is a troubling case, it does not reflect the vast majority of the men and women at Monroe County Fire Rescue. That said, anyone who obstructs a criminal investigation under these circumstances will be held accountable,” said Sheriff Rick Ramsay.”
Damian Roberto Suarez, 44, of Miami, lied to Detectives about his knowledge of an ongoing investigation into the theft of narcotics from the Trauma Star hangar. Suarez also deleted text messages and pictures from his phone concerning the investigation after he was told not to do so, as the texts could be evidence in a criminal case.
Suarez’s arrest follows the arrest earlier this month of former Chief Flight Nurse Lynda Rusinowski, 56, who was charged with two counts of grand theft of a controlled substance, two counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud, and two counts of official misconduct.
The investigation remains ongoing.
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If the county does not support healthcare providers who get into trouble with drugs, we will all loose. This is why professional organizations have employee assistance programs to treat providers, instead of zealously prosecuting them to the fullest extent of the laws.