LOUISVILLE, KY – A grand jury has indicted an EMS driver for murder in a crash that killed a patient in an ambulance.

Tammy Brewer was driving the ambulance in April of 2008, when it crashed at the corner of Rockford and Van Hoose.  Vicky Whobrey, 57, was a patient in the ambulance. She’d had a nosebleed. Whobrey died in the crash.

Witnesses say the ambulance was swerving on the road before the crash and an internal investigation revealed another EMS worker observed Brewer as loopy and said she’d been taking narcotics.

The grand jury indicted Brewer Thursday on murder, assault and 5 other counts.

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MCALESTER, OK – At least two claims have been filed against the city as a result of a February wreck in which a truck hit a city ambulance.

Geina Motley and Lowell Hendershott each seek unspecified damages of more than $10,000 for their injuries.

Hendershott was riding in the ambulance when it was hit by a semi-truck while crossing an intersection against a red light. The collision knocked the ambulance into Motley’s car, which was stopped for a light at the intersection of Carl Albert Parkway and Strong Boulevard.

The driver of the ambulance, Rodney Leamy, was later reprimanded for not slowing enough as he entered the intersection. Even though the ambulance’s lights and siren were on, Leamy’s failure to yield from the stoplight was cited as the only unsafe and/or unlawful contributing factor of the wreck, according to an accident report by the McAlester Police Department.

The report and Hendershott’s claim were obtained this week by the McAlester News-Capital after Freedom Of Information Act requests were filed with the city and the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety.

Hendershott’s claim was filed with the city on Feb. 12, seven days after the wreck. Motley’s lawsuit was filed July 27 in Pittsburg County District Court. It also seeks damages from the driver of the semi-truck, Robin Creel, of Calera, the truck’s carrier, C.L. Trucking of Tecumseh, and its insurer.

Also released this week was a letter of reprimand to Leamy. In the letter, Fire Chief Harold Stewart cites the ambulance driver for not slowing enough to avoid the accident, in violation of fire department rules and regulations.

Leamy and fellow firefighter Jeremy Farris were both treated and released for injuries. Farris had been in the back of the ambulance with Hendershott at the time of the wreck.

“While you slowed, observed traffic in one or more directions, had your emergency lights and siren on, and used the horn, the accident still occurred, which one could conclude that you did not slow the vehicle enough to avoid an accident from happening,” Stewart’s letter states.

The letter of reprimand was to be added to Leamy’s permanent file for three years.

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SAINT PAUL, MN – Reports released Monday say the St. Paul ambulance crew that ran over a 79-year-old woman on June 20 did not follow recommended department guidelines.

The reports indicated people on the scene all heard the sound of the ambulance alarm beeping as it slowly backed down an alley in the 1600 block of James Avenue before running over and killing Margaret Adele Kuehn.

Police say driver Thomas Tommio Murakami, 57, was going just one or two miles per hour and no one was behind the ambulance guiding down the narrow alley—a practice recommended in department policy.

After a check of the vehicle, the Minnesota State Patrol says there were no mechanical problems with the rig.

Once Kuehn was hit, the reports describe a heroic effort to try and safe her. Several firefighters actually lifted the back end of the ambulance off the ground to free Kuehn.

The report says Kuehn had recently started wearing hearing aids and investigators believe she was not wearing them when the accident happened.

The city isn’t commenting about the reports because of a possible lawsuit.

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SAN JOSE, CA – Though Louis Del Barba can’t speak, his daughters say he gets a sparkle in his eyes when they tell him he may be going home soon.

The 86-year-old lifelong Oakley resident has spent the past two years in a San Leandro hospital room where he can only mouth words to express himself. He breathes with help from a respirator ever since a horrific crash with an ambulance in April 2007 left him paralyzed.

The family sued American Medical Response Corp., or AMR, accusing the company of not properly training the ambulance driver involved in the accident. Last September, an Alameda County Superior Court jury awarded $23.9 million to pay for past and future medical expenses, along with $300,000 to modify Del Barba’s house to accommodate his condition.

Lifting his spirits are the thoughts of going home to his bichon frise, Tazzy, viewing an 85-year-old grape vineyard from inside his circa-1900 farmhouse and seeing his five grandchildren, said Vicki Del Barba-Mann, of Knightsen. The prospect of his return home also lifts the spirits of his daughters and relatives, who have shed many tears through the ordeal, she said.

However, the family fears that delays resolving AMR’s appeal may prevent Del Barba from ever going home again.

The last time Del Barba left his Oakley house was the morning of April 16, 2007. As he had done many times before, he drove down Rose Avenue in his red 2005 Chevrolet Silverado pickup, stopped at a stop sign on Main Street, and made a left turn onto the road to meet friends in Antioch.Meanwhile, an AMR ambulance late to a response in Brentwood was driving 60 to 70 mph with lights flashing and sirens blaring through downtown Oakley, according to court testimony. While Del Barba was turning onto Main Street, he was struck by the five-ton ambulance.

The impact crushed the fronts of both vehicles. It also caused extensive damage to Del Barba’s spinal cord, internal bleeding, and broke his ribs, arm, pelvis and neck. He was taken by helicopter to Walnut Creek’s John Muir Medical Center, where doctors thought he wouldn’t survive the night, Del Barba-Mann said.

Del Barba survived but was left with no control of his limbs other than his left arm. He now requires around-the-clock attention, and his daughters say he has repeated bed sores and many lung infections that require antibiotics.

“It’s horrid what he’s going through. It’s absolutely horrid,” Del Barba-Mann said while fighting back tears.

Added daughter Juli Del Barba-Favalora of Oakley: “To be trapped in that, and just staring at the wall and trapped in that bed, it’s torture.”

Terry O’Reilly, an attorney representing the Del Barba family, said AMR negligently trained the driver, and he was driving too fast to a call for which other emergency vehicles were already responding. O’Reilly speculates the reason the driver was going so quickly was to ensure that AMR would be compensated for responding.

The AMR driver not only was driving “so fast it was almost impossible for Del Barba to react” but should have swerved to the back of the vehicle to minimize the impact, O’Reilly said last week.

“These drivers are not trained in emergency maneuvers,” he said, calling the “abysmal” training of AMR and other ambulance companies “frightening.”

All ambulance drivers across the country are required to pass a written exam, while some private ambulance companies — including AMR — require some behind-the-wheel training for Code 3 driving.

AMR attorneys countered that Del Barba’s negligence caused the accident as he should have seen the ambulance’s flashing lights, heard its sirens and avoided the collision, according to court records. Emergency vehicles are supposed to travel only 10 to 15 mph over the speed limit and drive responsibly, even when responding to an emergency, O’Reilly said.

If the AMR driver followed that restriction on the 35-mph road, Del Barba could have reacted more quickly, O’Reilly said.

AMR declined to comment on the case or its driver-training methods because “it is a legal matter,” public affairs manager Doug Moore said.

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When Nicola Ortner’s husband collapsed from an apparent heart attack in their North Olmsted home on Father’s Day, she called 9-1-1. The dispatcher answered immediately, sent help to the street address and stayed on the line to give Ortner CPR instructions.

But the street the ambulance was dispatched to was 20 miles from Ortner, who had one hand on the phone while using the other hand in a frantic struggle to revive her husband. The ambulance was in Independence.

By the time the dispatcher learned of the error, “I was in a panic,” Ortner recalls.

Her husband had stopped breathing.

Outside their home, the couple’s 16-year-old daughter was in tears as she waited in the driveway for the van the dispatcher insisted was on their street – MacKenzie Drive.

“I said, ‘MacKenzie Drive? It’s MacKenzie Road, North Olmsted,’ ” Ortner remembers.

“The 9-1-1 operator said, ‘North Olmsted?’ It didn’t dawn on me she didn’t know.”

The dispatcher then called North Olmsted police. Fire-rescue paramedics arrived within three minutes – but almost 20 agonizing minutes after the call to 9-1-1.

City and county officials maintain it has been fixed. They said an unusual combination of circumstances led to the error – and it wasn’t caught because of a 9-1-1 system flaw that North Olmsted Safety Director Lisa Thomas called “so big I could drive a truck through it.”

Murray Withrow, director of the Cuyahoga Emergency Communication System, which coordinates 9-1-1 calls in the county, said the gap was closed by safeguards ordered after the incident. All calls are now verified by community and ZIP code, he said.

When Nicola Ortner dialed 9-1-1, her call went to the dispatcher for Independence – “who did answer, ‘9-1-1 Independence,’ ” Ortner says. “But I didn’t think that much of it because everything is centralized. I thought it was the first open line. It didn’t dawn on me she didn’t know I was in North Olmsted. It’s a shock to find your call doesn’t go where you think.”

Officials discovered her call was misrouted mainly because of the way the Ortners’ address was entered in a computer database when the family changed their phone service a year before.

They listed their street name as “MacKenzie,” the same spelling as on a street sign near their home. But it is not the spelling listed in the county’s master street guide used by EMS. That spelling is McKenzie. Thomas, in fact, has found four different recorded spellings for the North Olmsted road.

The spelling in the database automatically directed the Ortner call to Independence, a city that has a street spelled the way the Ortners listed theirs. To add to the problem, the street numbers on the Independence drive largely match those on the North Olmsted road.

Further complicating the situation was the Ortners’ change to a bundled phone and cable TV package, with digital phone service using VOIP, or voice over Internet protocol.

Withrow said the misrouting of the call would not have happened before the family’s switch. “It’s a little confusing because the technology has developed so quickly,” he said.

Withrow said his agency has toughened requirements for VOIP service providers, so that dispatchers will now see displays of street address, city and ZIP code for all 9-1-1 calls.

Similar problems are unlikely to happen with callers using cell phones, which now account for 70 percent of 9-1-1 calls, Withrow said. The 9-1-1 service sends a signal to the cell phone that automatically returns the caller’s location.

Thomas said North Olmsted police have since tested the homes of the Ortners’ neighbors and found one home phone that directed a 9-1-1 call to Independence.

The routing was corrected, she said, and the new verification standards should ensure that what happened to the Ortners will not be repeated.

“It’s going to make a difference to somebody,” Nicola Ortner says. “It might be Steve’s legacy that he saved a life down the road. You want to know the ironic part? He was a computer engineer. He probably would have fixed it in no time at all.”

Steve Ortner, 56, would be pronounced dead on arrival at St. John West Shore Hospital.

“I don’t know if it would have made any difference if they got here in time,” Nicola Ortner says, “but there’s something wrong with the system. There’s a monumental screw-up somewhere. Something needs to be fixed.”

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UNITED KINGDOM – Philip Harling deleted the patient’s name but failed to realise the image was so unusual that the male patient could easily be identified on the social networking site.

He also mentioned on the site that the man was treated by the North East Ambulance Service in February 2008.

The Health Professions Council heard that uploading such images was “part of an activity that many staff undertook at the time” but Mr Harling was the only one to be sacked for “gross misconduct”.

Laura Ryan, for the council, said a hospital doctor from the University Hospital North Tees sent Mr Harling the x-ray to his mobile phone.

The paramedic then posted it on the North East Ambulance Service’s Facebook page – with the image available to anyone who was in or wanted to join the group.

“While the imagine didn’t contain the patient’s name or date of birth, Mr Harling said the patient was treated the week before and one of the North East Ambulance crews attended,” Ms Ryan said.

“Due to the unusual nature of the patient’s injuries, the patient could have been identified by users of the Facebook site. It’s possible that people could have accessed the page other than those who were North East Ambulance Service users.”

Mark Glencorse, Mr Harling’s boss, investigated the matter shortly after the breach of patient confidentiality was reported.

He said Mr Harling had asked for the X-ray for “training purposes”.

The Facebook caption read: ‘This image was taken within the last week. One of our crews attended.’

Mr Glencorse said: “Although no specific details were posted, there were a number of things which could have led to the patient being identified.

“Because there were no details he assumed he had anonimised it. But it was such an unusual x-ray. If a member of the patient’s family saw it, they could pretty much have guaranteed who it was.”

Mr Glencorse admitted that Mr Harling was not the only member of staff to post patient images without their consent.

“I was the investigating officer for this case. At the time this came to light it was noticed that two or three different types of photos were also posted on the website. These other photos have been investigated.”

Trevor Johnson, representing Mr Harling, said his client admitted posting the photo but said this was not done maliciously.

“It was part of an activity that many staff undertook at the time. Only when it came to light did the North East Ambulance Service decide to block it.

“This doesn’t excuse my client’s actions but does explain why he thought it acceptable. He believed he had the permission of the doctor and further believed the image was anonimised.”

He said that since Mr Harling had lost his job he had to find work in Australia.

After the incident the North East Ambulance Service prevented paramedics accessing Facebook while at work and from posting similar images.

Although Harling was unable to return for the hearing, his parents Martin and Denise, from Stockton-On-Tees, Middlesbrough, did attend.

The hearing continues.

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NEW MEADOWS, ID – An Adams County Sheriff’s deputy was killed when his car hit a van head-on Monday afternoon.

It happened just outside of New Meadows on Highway 95 in the area of Tamarack, Idaho (not to be confused with the resort of the same name).

Deputy Monte “Leroy” Matthews died after a head-on collision between his squad car and a 2003 Honda Odyssey minivan. Police originally told KTVB that Matthews “was struck,” but later said the two vehicles collided head-on.

According to a news release by the Adams County Sheriff’s Office, for an unknown reason, Deputy Matthews’ patrol car drifted a few feet across the center line into the southbound lane.

The minivan in that southbound lane saw the oncoming patrol vehicle and swerved into the northbound lane to avoid it.

Deputy Matthews also swerved back into his correct lane and struck the front of the minivan.

Matthews, 35, died on the scene. Idaho State Police says Matthews was not wearing his seatbelt at the time of the accident.

Police say the van was driven by Mark Zampogna, 39, who lives on the Mountain Home Air Force Base. The vehicles were travelling in opposite directions.

Matthews was not running code at the time of the accident according to Idaho State Police spokesperson Rick Ohnsman – meaning he did not have his lights and sirens engaged.

The van was also towing a pop-up tent trailer, causing the van to be pinned between the squad car and the trailer.

Deputies say Zampogna’s family was also in the van at the time of the accident – including Jennifer Zampogna, 35, Nicole Zampogna, 9, and Dominic Zampogna, 7. All the occupants of the van were taken to hospitals by ground or air ambulance.

No details have been released on whether anyone will be charged, or what charges they may face.

Additionally, Idaho State Police says there are photos of the accident scene, but would not release the photos to KTVB. They say the accident had extensive damage and “lots of blood.”

The Ada County coroner is conducting an autopsy.

Deputy Matthews had been with the Adams County Sheriff’s Office for about five years.

He also previously worked with the Grangeville Police Department.

The family is still finalizing arrangements but funeral services are expected to be held early next week.Highway 95 was closed to traffic from 4:30 p.m. until after 10 p.m. Monday, causing serious delays and backups in the area.

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ELIZABETHTON, Tenn. — A boy was arrested over the weekend on charges of stealing from an ambulance while paramedics were treating his mother. The Johnson City Press reported the boy, who was not named because he is a juvenile, was charged with stealing $5,000 in medical supplies. That includes an oxygen tank and an oxygen sensor machine.

He is also accused of stealing a purse belonging to one of the rescue workers and of breaking into a car several hours earlier and stealing credit cards, a cellular phone and a PlayStation portable video game.

The boy was taken to the Juvenile Detention Center in Johnson City.

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NEW BEDFORD, MA — Two city paramedics have been suspended from their jobs without pay for, in part, their actions during a December 2008 emergency call.

A state investigative report found the paramedics, Rosemary Nunes and Ivan Brody, violated state protocols during that call by failing to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on a baby in cardiac arrest and then inaccurately recording the details of that call.

Nunes has been suspended by the city for 45 calendar days, while Brody’s suspension is 70 days.

Both suspensions are retroactive to June 2, when the two paramedics were initially suspended pending the outcome of the city’s disciplinary proceedings.

“We still maintain that they did absolutely nothing wrong,” said Anthony Savastano, a lawyer for the two paramedics.

“Despite the fact we’re not pleased with the suspension, we’re not going to be appealing this because my clients just want to put this behind them.”

In addition to the disciplinary action taken by the city, the state Department of Public Health will revoke Nunes and Brody’s paramedic certifications for 30 days. The paramedics initially appealed the temporary suspension but have withdrawn their appeals, said Savastano.

Richard Rock Jr., the father of the baby who died in December, said he was not completely satisfied with the sanctions announced by the city.

“I just think that something more needs to be done,” he said.

According to Mayor Scott W. Lang, Brody received a longer suspension because of his role in recording the details of the December call. The state found that Brody inaccurately documented the call by, in part, failing to include details about the cessation of CPR, according to the investigative report.

Ray Pelletier, a city paramedic who is on a four-month suspension for not completing a patient refusal report, questioned why he received a suspension that was almost double and triple the length of the suspensions received by Brody and Nunes respectively.

“When I met with the state, the state did not suspend my license to practice,” said Pelletier, who said the state would be issuing him a letter of clinical deficiency.

Additionally, Pelletier and his partner received the exact same suspension from the city for the mistake, which was his fault more than his partner’s, he said.

Lang said he signed off on both the incident involving Pelletier and the December incident.

“I think that the discipline in each of those are very consistent,” he said.

Lang also announced Friday that he has asked the state to reopen the investigation into the December incident and to examine the actions taken by the two paramedics, as well as by then-Emergency Medical Services supervisor Tom Pimental, who also responded to the December call.

“I don’t think all the facts, circumstances, have been looked at by the state,” Lang said Friday.

In a statement, Lang said he wants a “full examination and explanation of each individual’s conduct … in relation to all required protocols for emergency medical services, patient care … including the sanctity of the human body.”

Savastano said his clients have “no problem” with a reopening of the state investigation.

A thorough investigation would reveal “the unnecessary invasive techniques that (Pimental) required, or forced, (the paramedics) to use on a dead infant,” said Savastano.

Pimental, who was laid off by the city in February, also said he did not have an issue with an additional state investigation.

“I’ve got absolutely nothing to hide on my end,” he said Friday. “I stand by my written report, and I stand by everything I’ve said all along.”

In an e-mailed statement, the state Department of Public Health’s director of media relations, Jennifer Manley, wrote that the state was “confident in the findings of our investigation in this case, but DPH will always pursue any new information regarding quality of care issues.”

Lang also asked the state to investigate whether city EMS management personnel breached state reporting requirements in connection with the December incident.

The mayor has maintained that the city reported the incident to its contact at the state Office of Emergency Medical Services within days of its occurrence; the state has said the city never submitted a formal written report as required.

The Standard-Times has requested under the state’s public records law copies of any notifications the city did file with the state about the December incident; the city had not responded to the request by Friday.

Finally, Lang asked the state DPH to consider adopting a series of procedures for future investigations, including taking all statements under oath, notifying the family or individual patient of the ongoing investigation, and providing a preliminary report to all involved parties for comment.

“We have received Mayor Lang’s letter and will respond to him after reviewing it,” wrote Manley.

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ONTARIO, CANADA – Two paramedics were being hailed as heroes Thursday after they pulled a patient out of an ambulance minutes before it became engulfed in flames in western Newfoundland.

RCMP Sgt. Randy Freeborn said the paramedics knew something was wrong when the ambulance’s engine died while driving through Gros Morne National Park near Rocky Harbour Wednesday.

“They were going up the park and it’s a 10 to 20 per cent grade going up there. It’s very steep,” he said Thursday. “The ambulance was heavy and it looks like the cooling line broke on the engine.”

Police believe this mechanical failure, combined with hot weather Wednesday, triggered the engine to overheat, catching on fire.

“It went downhill in a hurry,” said Freeborn.

At the time, the paramedics were transporting a male cardiac care patient to hospital in Corner Brook.

The paramedics pulled the patient out of the ambulance and placed him on a stretcher 100 metres from the vehicle.

The two returned and removed the oxygen tanks in the ambulance, averting the potential for a large explosion. It took minutes for the vehicle to completely burst into flames.

Freeborn said all that was left of the ambulance Thursday was the frame. Even the tires had burnt off.

“I’ve never heard of an ambulance blowing up before. You hear about older cars overheating and catching fire, but for this to happen to an ambulance is highly unusual,” he said. “We don’t think people should be worried. It seems like this was just a mechanical failure.”

Freeborn said once a replacement ambulance arrived, the paramedics insisted on finishing the job and took the patient to hospital.

“They felt like they had an obligation to him and making sure he got to the hospital safely,” he said.

Rocky Harbour is 120 kilometres north of Corner Brook.

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HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA – The wife of a Huntington Beach man who died of a heart attack has filed a claim against the city saying emergency personnel did not properly treat her husband.

Christine Palmer, 58, called 911 on Oct. 13, 2008, when her husband was experiencing extreme chest pain, labored breathing and numbness in his arm, according to the claim, a precursor to a lawsuit. Medical personnel said Robert Palmer, 51, was not experiencing cardiac arrest, and he was transported in an ambulance to Huntington Beach Hospital without a paramedic, his wife said.

“The paramedic was negligent and left his patient,” Christine Palmer wrote in the May 12 claim. “The paramedic should have suspected heart failure.”

The city is investigating the claim and declined to comment on specifics, city spokeswoman Laurie Payne said.

Robert Palmer went into a grand mal seizure in the ambulance and had no pulse when he arrived at the hospital. He could not be revived and died, the claim said.

Christine Palmer said she knew something was wrong when the ambulance left without the paramedic.

“He told them he was scared, which was really rare because he wasn’t the type of person to say, ‘I’m scared,’ ” she told the Register. “I don’t want to see this happen to another person.”

Robert Palmer was a building inspector for the city of Bellflower. The couple had lived in Huntington Beach for two and a half years, Christine Palmer said.

“They absolutely adored him,” Palmer said about her husband’s co-workers. “He was a very, very good guy. He was a wonderful person and husband.”

Christine Palmer’s claim was filed two months past the six-month deadline to file a claim against the city. She said she moved to Paradise, Calif., after her husband’s death, making it difficult for her to file the claim on time.

The amount of damages is unknown, Christine Palmer said in the claim.

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HOUSTON, TX - he Harris County Precinct 4 Constable’s Office says no deputies were disciplined for failing to find a woman killed when her truck was knocked off the elevated portion of the Hardy Toll Road by an alleged drunken driver accused of speeding at 100 mph.

The body of 44-year-old Cheryl Anne Guberman was found two hours after the crash when her husband and son spotted her wrecked Dodge Dakota in a wooded ravine. An internal review concluded the deputies took “reasonable care” when they responded to the crash at 11:30 p.m. May 28, said Precinct 4 Constable’s Assistant Chief Mark Herman.

“We found no reason to discipline anyone,” Herman said Tuesday, noting that deputies, ambulance attendants and wrecker drivers were interviewed.

The constable’s office has yet to take a written statement from Guberman’s husband, Steve, who found his wife’s battered truck after seeing debris strewn across the Hardy Toll Road and following the sound of her horn, which was stuck.

Steve Guberman of The Woodlands said he still does not understand how the officers who arrested Pamela R. Pugh after the crash missed his wife’s truck, which fell 44 feet from the toll road after going over the concrete wall. But he stressed he does not yet know all the facts and is not trying to criticize anyone.

Pugh, 51, who is charged with intoxication manslaughter, called police to report the accident, telling officers another driver cut her off, causing her to crash into the toll road’s wall. The Spring woman said the other driver kept going and never told deputies she hit another vehicle, Herman said.

The site where deputies arrived to investigate Pugh’s call is 720 feet south of where Cheryl Guberman was struck from behind, the investigation concluded.

“Why would you accept what the person is telling you when you’re not accepting that they’re capable of driving?” Steve Guberman said Tuesday.

‘Everybody missed it’

Guberman, 44, and his 21-year-old son discovered his wife’s wrecked truck as they retraced her route from their Woodlands home to Bush Intercontinental Airport when she failed to show up there to pick up the son.

They first saw “10 relatively large pieces” of a vehicle strewn across both lanes of the toll road, extending for about 30 or 40 yards, Guberman said.

“It was pretty evident multiple cars were involved,” he said.

When they stopped at the bottom of the overpass and began walking up the hill toward the debris, they heard a stuck horn, looked over the wall and saw Cheryl Guberman’s truck upright in a ravine surrounded by high grass.

The pickup “clearly looked like it had rolled,” her husband said. “The windows were smashed. The driver’s door was bent in half. The truck bed looked like an accordion.

“Granted, I will say, you could not easily see it unless you looked over the edge of the Hardy. But you could hear it,” he said, referring to the horn.

One fire chief interviewed during the internal review said Guberman’s horn could not be heard from the toll road because of noises from all the emergency vehicles and wrecker trucks that responded to Pugh’s report of an accident, Herman said.

“Our department, the ambulances, the wrecker companies, everybody missed it,” said Precinct 4 Constable’s Chief Deputy Jim Sumner.

After an upgraded charge of intoxication manslaughter was filed against Pugh last week, she surrendered to authorities on Monday and was immediately released after posting a $30,000 non-arrest bond.

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