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What Really Happened? Questions Surround Paramedic Stabbing

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A LAFD Ambulance | Photo by Zach Behrens/LAist
Last week Charles Anthony MacDougal, a nine-year veteran with the Los Angeles Fire Department, was walking by the Cecil Hotel in downtown with his partner when they were flagged down to give medical help inside. MacDougal went inside and ended up getting stabbed by the apparent patient, who was never found after an intensive police manhunt. That was the story then, but now a handful of news reports raise questions about the accuracy of that story, citing inconsistencies.

A Fox11 Report said MacDougal and his partner were milling around the coffeshop in the hotel lobby when he left to go help a patient on the 3rd floor. He was later found on the 8th floor and only called for help once in the elevator with his partner.

A KCBS report also noted similar by different inconsistencies, including how he casually responded to the request for medical aid while his partner went to the ambulance and sat there for several minutes. Later when his partner found him on an upper floor, MacDougal apparently told him not to call the police or for help.

Before the stabbing, MacDougal had been named "Paramedic of the Year" at County-USC, where he was treated for superficial stab wounds. He did not show up at a ceremony honoring him on Thursday -- he was still recovering.

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By Zach Behrens in on May 24, 2010 12:45 PM

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