By Felice J. Freyer
Providence Journal
Copyright 2007 The Providence Journal Co
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The state has suspended the license of an emergency medical technician, saying that he sent threatening e-mails with statements such as “i like to hurt people” and “i have a very special ending reserved for you.”
The EMT, Kenneth L. DeFranco, 34, of Foster, is an electrician who worked as an EMT on the side, according to Peter Leary, chief of the Health Department’s division of emergency medical services. Leary said DeFranco worked for a small rescue company in Foster, most likely as a volunteer, but Leary wasn’t sure which company.
The e-mails stemmed from a dispute among people DeFranco had connected with through his MySpace.com page, said Bruce W. McIntyre, Health Department lawyer. The recipients were a male and a female, one of whom lives out of state.
One message that DeFranco sent said, “there’s nothing more exhilarating than looking into someone’s eyes as their life fades away at the end of your hands. or even better, sneaking up behind them, knowing they have no idea they’re about to die, and ending their life.”
The Foster Police Department alerted the Health Department to the e-mails on Thursday. On Monday, Health Director David R. Gifford declared DeFranco “an immediate danger to the public” and suspended his license.
DeFranco obtained his EMT license in 2004. At the time, DeFranco had a criminal record in which he had admitted to resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, providing false information to a 9-1-1 operator, vandalism, simple assault or battery, and driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, according to the suspension order. All those incidents occurred between 1995 and 2001.
Leary said that when he applied for his license, DeFranco had gone three years without legal trouble. He submitted “strong letters of support” describing him as “a textbook example of a success story — that he would be giving back to the community,” Leary said.
The department recently learned that in August 2006, DeFranco admitted to obtaining money under false pretenses, less than $500, by collecting unemployment payments while he was working, Leary said.