Woman Faces Charges for Stealing Foot
It's bad enough that rubberneckers slow down at crash scenes. Taking body parts of the people slain -- the "human roadkill" -- is strictly prohibited.
Florida firefighter Cynthia Economou faces theft charges for taking part of Karl Lambert's foot, after he crashed on I-95 in Port St. Lucie last year.
Was she hungry? No.
According to authorities, the 38-year-old woman said she was training a police cadaver dog.
Economou -- voted 2007's Firefighter of the Year -- claims that the deputy police chief gave her permission to take the foot.
One of the reason's the case has been moving along so slowly: Police weren't sure how to charge her. Since it's a theft case, they have to assign a value to the property stolen.
In the end, Economou ended up with misdemeanor theft, not grand larceny.
“I think the issue here for everyone was unfortunately the value of the foot,” a Police spokesman told the Port St. Lucie News
“This particular bizarre incident involving a body part is not listed in the statute as far as specifying it, so therefore it would relate back to some type of monetary value.”
Lampert, who has been confined to a wheelchair since the accident, describes the incident as "unbelievable."
Indeed.
Photo courtesy Port St. Lucie (Fla.) Police
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