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2nd arrest in UCLA medical cadaver program
« on: Mar 8th, 2004, 3:38pm » |
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2nd arrest in UCLA medical cadaver program
Monday, March 8, 2004 Posted: 4:29 PM EST (2129 GMT)
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- In the midst of an expanding criminal investigation into UCLA's medical cadaver program, university police have arrested a second person in connection with the probe, according to a statement from the school.
"The University of California Police Department has arrested Ernest Nelson on charges of receiving known stolen property. Nelson is not a university employee," the statement said.
A news conference has been scheduled for 1 p.m. (4 p.m. ET) Monday where "more details on the arrest will be made available," the statement said.
Henry Reid, director of the school's Willed Body Program which makes donated bodies available for medical education and research, was arrested Saturday.
Although the school did not release details about Reid's involvement in the case, the Los Angeles Times reported that authorities were investigating whether employees stole and sold body parts from cadavers for personal gain.
According to the Los Angeles County Jail's Web site, Reid was charged with felony grand theft of money or property in an amount greater than $400. He was released from custody early Sunday after being taken into custody at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Reid, 54, is scheduled to appear in Los Angeles Municipal Court on March 30 at 8:30 a.m.
More arrests are likely from the investigation of possible wrongdoing in the Willed Body Program, the school said in an earlier written statement.
J. Thomas Rosenthal, associate vice chancellor of the UCLA School of Medicine and chief medical officer of the UCLA Medical Center, said in the statement that the school was "cooperating fully with the police department."
"At this stage, we must do nothing to undermine the integrity of the investigation, and we will announce additional details in the near future. For this reason we cannot address the specifics at this time."
The school had already announced it put two employees on leave while it investigated possible wrongdoing in the program. It was not clear if Reid was one of those two.
"We want to assure the public that we will do everything in our power to eliminate whatever inadequacies that existed to ensure that the UCLA willed body program is one that is worthy of the trust given by those who generously donate their remains for the benefit of medical education and research," Rosenthal said in his statement.
According to UCLA, about 175 people donate their bodies to the Willed Body Program each year.
-- CNN Radio's Ninette Sosa contributed to this story.
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