Fwd: Radioactive Assault Case

[Joel Baumbaugh <baumbaug@nosc.mil>]

        

RADAFERS:

        

I am SO
sorry!  - some of you had "no" problem reading the
"cut and paste" I did from the newspaper and some of you
received "garbled garbage"!!!  I am trying one more time
(with a different configuration) , and apologizing ahead of time if THIS
doesn't work.  Note the email address below...


A FYI...

Joel Baumbaugh (baumbaug@nosc.mil)
SSC-SD

Address:
http://www.uniontrib.com/news/state/20000209-991926-radioactivea.html

Article:

Lab technician pleads guilty to radioactive
assault



ASSOCIATED PRESS 

February 9, 2000 

SANTA ANA -- A former lab technician plead guilty Wednesday to
misdemeanor assault and felony unlawful disposal of radioactive material
for
smearing a compound on a co-worker's chair at the University of
California,
Irvine. 

Andrew Andris Blakis, 32, of Newport Beach was sentenced to 120 days
in
jail and three years probation, Orange County Deputy District
Attorney
Lance Jensen said. 

Blakis also was ordered to stay away from the victim, a 
postdoctoral
researcher, and pay any future medical costs she may incur as a result of
the
assault. 

Jensen said the July 1, 1999, incident occurred because Blakis believed
the
researcher, Jingtong Zuo, had tried to poison him with a 
radioactive
substance. 

The incident began when Blakis was conducting tests at the
university's
Gillespie Neuroscience Research Facility. He was working with P32
isotope,
a waxy, colorless chemical used in DNA testing. 

During his tests, Blakis' lips began to tingle. A Geiger counter,
which
measures radiation levels, revealed some of the substance had escaped
the
workstation, officials said. 

Believing Zuo was responsible, Blakis put the compound on her chair,
Jensen
said. 

Zuo sat on the chair for about six hours before she discovered the
contamination, officials said. 

Investigators estimate Zuo was exposed to an average yearlong dose
of
radiation during the time. To date, Zuo has not experienced any
side-effects
of radiation poisoning, Jensen said. 



© Copyright 2000 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.