My husband Paul was working as a police officer in the town of Rehoboth Massachusetts in the early morning hours of January 27, 2007 when he received a radio call alerting all officers of a suspect who fled from an officer in neighboring East Providence Rhode Island. The suspect was approaching the Rehoboth town line on Route 44. Paul set up spike strips in the roadway and the suspect struck them. The suspect continued to flee and Paul entered the pursuit with Officer James Casey and Lieutenant Bruce Dube as well as several officers from Seekonk and East Providence who were also involved. Paul, Jim and Bruce were able to block the suspect and force him into a parking lot. Paul drove to block the parking lots other exit at which time the suspect struck his car head on. The suspect backed up and Paul tried to block him against the wall of a building. The man then rammed Paul's door and pushed his car out of the way trying to escape. The suspect continued to flee and re-entered route 44 west back towards the Town of Seekonk. Paul was able to get his car moving and tried to catch up to the suspect. He noticed that the suspect was pushing Jim's police car and he accelerated and struck the rear wheels of the car in an attempt to disable the car. Paul was trapped in the car but was able to use his feet and shoulder to free himself. The suspect continued to resist arrest for several minutes but was eventually arrested. 

After the situation calmed Paul noticed pain in his lower back and he was sent to the hospital and diagnosed with a lumbar strain. Even though he was in continuous pain, he returned to work because we had financial responsibilities. He was able to keep working on and off for almost two years while spending a great deal of his time off attending appointments for tests, mris, x-rays, physical therapy, cortisone injections, and radio frequency lesioning nerve blocks. All the while, his pain was getting increasingly worse. He was finally diagnosed with radiculopathy after seeing a neurologist. He was no longer able to continue working and was retired on disability from the police force in February of 2010.

After he retired he continued to see his neurologist and still sought the doctor's opinions on how to fix his back. After receiving another medical bill, he submitted it to the town for payment. The town refused to pay the bill. The town's administrator told him that the town could not pay his medical bills since he retired because the town had not adopted Massachusetts General laws Chapter 41 section 100B which would have indemnified him and allowed Rehoboth to pay all his medical bills, treatments, tests,procedures and surgeries related to his injury. Paul lost his career as a police officer serving the people of Rehoboth and then learned that the town can just throw their responsibility for his medical expenses out the window.

Two years since his retirement we learned that my husband has developed stage three kidney disease from taking ibuprofen instead of narcotic pain medications and we just found out that he needs two separate surgeries for his back that will cost between five to eight thousand dollars on top of what our insurance covers.  My husband received a citation medal for performance above and beyond the call of duty for his actions on the morning he was injured, but losing his career and feeling abandoned by the town makes that award seem empty and worthless. This could never happen to someone who is covered by worker's compensation. But because he was a police officer, they follow a different set of rules regarding injuries which seems like a major loophole that allows some disabled officers and firefighters to fall through the cracks. 

How can this happen to a police officer who sacrificed himself for the residents of Rehoboth, that probably to this day, never even knew his name? Paul is in the process of recovering from his first surgery and I am seeking all possible publicity to ensure that what is happening to Paul never happens to another injured Police Officer or Firefighter again. Please sign my petition so that the residents of the Town of Rehoboth MA can protect their first responders that watch over them 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Here is a link to the law that would allow the town to pay related medical expenses for an officer/firefighter injured in the line of duty and retired on disability. Please sign this petition and share this so we can let as many people as possible know what is happening to these brave men and women who serve their communities selflessly day and night.

https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleVII/Chapter41/Section100