RE: Radioactive Assault Case

[Joel Baumbaugh <baumbaug@nosc.mil>]

Any better this time?  I sent it in two different
forms/types...Thanks and sorry for the mess...jb

At 09:06 AM 02/10/2000 -0600, you wrote:

Your message came across garbled, but I am very interested.  Please
re-transmit.

Steve Cima
scima@texas.net

-----Original Message-----
From: Joel Baumbaugh [mailto:baumbaug@nosc.mil]
Sent: Thursday, February 10, 2000 8:22 AM
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: Radioactive Assault Case



        RADSAFERSl
        
        A FYI...

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

        Address:                http://www.uniontrib.com/news/state/20000209-991926-radi= oactivea.html

        Article:              =             &nbs
= p;            &n
= bsp;             =             &nbs
= p;            &n
= bsp; 
            &nbs
= p;    Lab technician pleads guilty to radioactive
            &nbs
= p;    assault


            &nbs
= p;            &n
= bsp;             =             &nbs
= p;            &n
= bsp;             =   
            &nbs
= p;    ASSOCIATED PRESS

            &nbs
= p;    February 9, 2000

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

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

            &nbs
= p;    Blakis also was ordered to stay away from the victim, a=20 postdoctoral
            &nbs
= p;    researcher, and pay any future medical costs she may incur as a result of the
            &nbs
= p;    assault.

            &nbs
= p;    Jensen said the July 1, 1999, incident occurred because Blakis believed the
            &nbs
= p;    researcher, Jingtong Zuo, had tried to poison him with a=20 radioactive
            &nbs
= p;    substance.

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

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

            &nbs
= p;    Believing Zuo was responsible, Blakis put the compound on her chair, Jensen
            &nbs
= p;    said.

            &nbs
= p;    Zuo sat on the chair for about six hours before she discovered the
            &nbs
= p;    contamination, officials said.

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



            &nbs
= p;           =A9 Copyright 2000 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.


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