By Phaedra Haywood
The Santa Fe New Mexican
SANTA FE, N.M. — A Santa Fe County grand jury has indicted a 47-year-old Rio Rancho man on charges that for more than a year he falsely passed himself off as a licensed emergency medical technician or paramedic in dealings with various public agencies.
While police and prosecutors were mum about specifics of the case Tuesday, the indictment filed in state District Court alleges David Phillips altered an EMT certificate “with intent to defraud the [state] Department of Health, Glorieta Volunteer Fire Department, Santa Fe County Fire Department and the [state] Legislative Health Services.”
A Health Department spokesman said Tuesday the case has prompted the department to encourage agencies statewide to verify credentials for emergency medical personnel.
The indictment says that from September 2012 through February 2014, Phillips improperly represented himself as someone who was authorized to provide emergency medical care.
Health Department spokesman Kenny Vigil said in an email Tuesday that a Santa Fe County official had contacted the department’s Emergency Medical Services Bureau about Phillips in February 2014. Vigil said the bureau verified that Phillips was not and had never been licensed as an EMT in New Mexico.
“The Bureau contacted state police and an investigation was launched,” Vigil wrote. “Following this incident, the EMS Bureau contacted agencies across the state encouraging them to verify licensure by checking the required wallet card and by checking the EMS website.”
The New Mexican requested the state police report on Phillips on Monday but had not received it as of Tuesday.
Assistant District Attorney David Murphy said he was not at liberty to comment on the case.
Jane McSweeney, chief of the the Glorieta Fire Department, also declined to comment.
Phillips has not been arrested, but a criminal summons has been issued ordering him to appear before state District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer in Santa Fe for arraignment later this month.
Attempts to contact Philips for comment Tuesday were unsuccessful. The indictment against him lists a Rio Rancho address.
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©2015 The Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, N.M.)