EMT Arrested For Falsifying Military Leave

By ARI PAUL

An Emergency Medical Technician was accused Jan. 24 of filing fraudulent military leave papers, the Department of Investigation announced.

ROSE GILL HEARN: Taking advantage

The DOI said that EMT Michael Suehle, who has been an employee of the Fire Department since July 2004, was paid roughly $4,000 for 28 days he did not work because he claimed he was on military leave.

Used Army Stationery

The department claimed that Mr. Suehle filed four military leave documents on Department of Army letterhead between January 2006 and August 2007 to account for his absences from work. It did not state how he got hold of those documents.

Mr. Suehle was charged with one count of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, one count of Tampering with Public Records in the First Degree, one count of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree and four counts of Criminal Possession of a Forged Document in the Second Degree.

He faces up to seven years in prison if convicted. He has received a 30-day suspension from the Fire Department.

"Falsifying military leave documents is not just a crime, it also shows a disregard for those individuals who are truly serving our country and entitled to compensation," DOI Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn said in a statement. "As these allegations show, the EMT arrested in this case broke the trust placed in him by the city and the U.S. Army."