Victim in teen's
bar rampage alleges he was mistreated by paramedics

One of the men attacked in a Massachusetts gay bar by a hatchet-wielding teenager filed a complaint with the state alleging paramedics gave him substandard treatment because he is gay. Robert Perry was hit in the head with the hatchet and shot in the back by 18-year-old Jacob Robida, who later killed himself during a police chase in Arkansas. Two other men also were injured in the attack early February 2 in Puzzles Lounge. In a complaint filed with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health in Boston, Perry says the New Bedford paramedics took too long taking him to a hospital, were physically and verbally abusive, and shared private medical information with his family without his permission. Perry, 52, of Dartmouth, is clinical services director at an ambulance service in Boston. He said in a separate complaint letter to New Bedford's mayor that he could not recall any action by an ambulance crew "so cruel and hate-filled" in his 29 years in medicine. Mayor Scott Lang said the city would take the allegations "very seriously." Steve Arruda, acting deputy director of New Bedford's emergency medical services, declined to comment because of an ongoing investigation into Perry's complaint. (AP)