Nov. 5 (UPI) — Two Denver firefighters have been suspended after trying to have a living woman declared dead.
According to a disciplinary report obtained by the Denver Post, Lt. Patrick Lopez and firefighter Marshall Henry were dispatched June 24 for a welfare check on a woman at a residence.
After arriving at the scene Lopez was given a description of the woman by police officer Eugene McComas, who had entered the house previously.
Without entering the residence, Lopez called a doctor at Denver Health and handed the phone to Henry, who described the woman as “bloated and obviously dead,” as though he had not made the observation himself.
“The doctor asked Henry whether the woman had a pulse or if there were signs of trauma and Henry said no, despite not having assessed her or looked at her himself,” the report noted. The woman was subsequently declared dead.
McComas then re-entered the house and called an ambulance after finding that the woman was still alive.
Lopez was suspended without pay for 336 hours and demoted. Henry was suspended without pay for 220 hours.
