An 18 year old student at the University of Cincinnati was arrested yesterday after he "stole" an inhaler from a local Walgreens. He was suffering from an asthma attack during an attempted purchase of the inhaler. Walgreens employees refused to give him the inhaler during the attack, citing delays in processing insurance, so he took it.
From the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Bay, 18, was trying to buy an inhaler at the Corry Street store but complications with the processing of his medical insurance card caused a delay, according to court documents.
Bay tried to explain that he needed the inhaler immediately because he wasn't able to breathe, said his attorney R. Scott Croswell.
When that didn't work, "he took the inhaler," Croswell said.
Croswell said his client was then tackled by a security guard and when the guard got on top of Bay, it only exacerbated Bay's breathing problems and Bay bit him.
Bay was arrested on robbery charges and spent the night at the Hamilton County Jail.
...
The attorney said Bay has been in college since he was 16 years old. His grade point average at the University of Cincinnati is 3.6, Croswell said.
Judge Heather Russell set Bay's bond at $10,000 and said that he is required to get medical testing to see if he may have passed any communicable diseases to the employee that was bitten.
For local coverage see http://tinyurl.com/...
This is an absolute outrage, yet probably not a unique one. This is evidence that the police care more about protecting the property rights of corporations than the health of citizens. They protect and serve, but not the people.
If you could, please submit a comment to the Cincinnati Police Department concerning this injustice. http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/...
Also, please submit a complaint to Walgreens at http://www.walgreens.com/... or by calling (800) 925-4733.
Thank you.Updated by Belili at Fri Apr 22, 2011 at 06:08 PM EDT
4/22/11 - The Grand Jury failed to issue an indictment, the charge is now listed as "ignored" on the Clerk of Court's website. Apparently Cincinnatians agree that an arrest was a terrible idea.