The Daily News from Lebanon, Pennsylvania • 3

FIRE, POLICE LOG HMC nurse charged with morphine theft By HOWARD KOLUS torney promised she will appear Staff Writer for a May 30th preliminary arHERSHEY A former Her- raignment before district justice shey Medical Center nurse has William Rathfon in Hershey. Pobeen charged with taking "a large lice documents did not list the amount" of morphine from a hos- total amount of drugs missing. pital pharmacy during a three- Derry police lieutenant William month period last year. Smith said morphine is a base for Derry Township police have heroin. issued arrest warrants for Susan C.

Schaeffer, 47, of 278 Grandview According to a criminal comRoad, Hummelstown, who was plaint filed 1 by police, Schaeffer fired from her job in the cardio- used her special code and pin vascular unit last January after a number to dispense morphine and hospital investigation. She had sedatives through a computer in been employed the medical the fourth floor cardiovascular center since July at, 1991, according unit pharmacy but delivered to a HMC spokesman. lesser amounts of the drugs to paSchaeffer was charged with 310 tients than listed in the computer counts theft, unlawful posses- log. Sometimes she returned a sion of a controlled substance and portion of the morphine to the unlawful use of a computer. The pharmacy, the complaint states.

charges culminate a five-month The investigation. losses were uncovered durPolice said Schaeffer i is cur- ing a computer audit after discrerently out of state but that her at- pancies were discovered in drug inventories, according to police Lebanon documents. CRIMINAL MISCHIEF: A win- According to a published report, dow at Northwest Savings Bank, Schaffer's husband 547 7 S. 10th was damaged by a accusations against his wife, conBB gun overnight Wednesday, po- tending someone else used her lice said. computer entry codes.

THEFT: Robert S. Miller, 332 Maple told police a license plate was stolen from his vehicle North Cornwall while it was parked at home THEFT: A representative of the overnight Wednesday. Police said Neversink baseball field told pothe license plate number is lice 36 new baseballs were stolen ZA-41904. from a locked storage building be. driven by tween 8 p.m.

Wednesday and 6 ACCIDENT: Cars John A. Lao, 22, of 706 Cumber- p.m. Thursday. Loss was listed at land and Barry C. Fulmer, 63, $125.

of 1121 Kochenderfer Road, collided at Chestnut and South Seventh streets at 9:08 a.m. Mon- CAPLAN PAVILION day, police said. day, police said. ACCIDENT: A rental truck being used by Luis Mojica of 751 Maple and parked in front of the home of Juan Morales, 323 Lehman was damaged by another truck at 11 a.m. Tuesday.

Morales told police he chased down the truck driver and obtained information about the driver and truck. Police said Morales identified the other driver as Bill Morris, no address listed, driving a truck owned by Penske Truck Leasing of Greenhills. Police said the Penske truck was gone when they arrived at the scene. CRIMINAL MISCHIEF: Victor L. Kreider Morgret reported to police that someone forced open the door of his business, BK Battery, 29 S.

12th on Friday at 3:20 a.m. Nothing was reported missing or CRIMINAL MISCHIEF: Robert Long, 372 N. Fourth and David Ruiz, 918 Lehman reported to police that their cars were damaged overnight Thursday while parked on Lehman Street. Long's side view mirror was damaged while a window on Ruiz's car was shattered. CRIMINAL MISCHIEF: Kristie Litz, 1228 E.

Walnut reported to police that someone spraypainted the east wall of her property overnight Wednesday. too. Erik Arneson The Daily News The Wildcat tears down its track as it nears the end of the line. Speeds of 40-45 mph and 3.5 G-forces await those who are willing to try to tame Hersheypark's newest thrill ride. Lebanon, PA, Friday, May 24, 1996 3 Coaster offers wild ride (Continued from page 1) But you better not forget to lower the lap bar, because the Wildcat will make you move in your seat.

From my observations and those of other riders, the very back seat is the place for the most adventurous coaster fans. The front seat though very enjoyable just doesn't offer the same feeling of recklessness. The middle seats, of course, are for more timid (yet still thrillseeking) riders and those who don't want to wait for the prime locations. Workers pieced together more than 514,000 board feet of southern yellow pine timber for the ride. It's named after the Wild Cat, Hersheypark's first roller coaster, which was replaced by the still-functioning Comet in 1946.

A hour special on the Discovery Channel this weekend, "Wild Rides," will feature the Wildcat. The program, narrated by actor Stacy Keach, will air Sunday at 9 p.m. The new coaster sits at the northeast end of the park and anchors a new theme area Midway America to be completed in future years, representing amusement parks as they were in the 1920s and 30s. Adjacent to the Wildcat is a miniature train ride for youngsters, which was actually used earlier this century and brought out of retirement this year. Great Coasters International of Sunbury designed and built the Wildcat their first project a as a company, though the principals have been instrumental in numerous other coasters across the country.

The station and some associated construction were designed by Cornwall architect Ralph Kaylor. No doubt lines will be long for the Wildcat this weekend, but it's arguably the best roller coaster at Hersheypark now, and worth a bit of a wait. Coasters trace their history to Russia By ERIK ARNESON Staff Writer Dozens of amusement parks are constructing for this season including Hersheypark's wooden Wildcat and the indoor Skull Mountain at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey. But did you know that roller coasters have their roots in Russian "gravity rides" from the 15th and 16th centuries? The gravity rides were actually ice slides built near Russian towns, some as high as 70 feet in the air. The track and sleds were both ice, with straw stuffed in chiseled hollows to serve as seats.

The rides became more elaborate as Russian royalty warmed to the idea. The first wheeled "roller coaster" was also invented in Russia, built in St. Petersburg in 1784. However, they weren't called roller coasters until they were introduced in Paris in 1804. The early coasters didn't always work right the wheels often fell off and the cars did not always stop at the end of the track.

The early rides came in two parts: riders rolled down one hill to the bottom and then walked up a second hill to get enough height for the return trip. The coasters were dragged uphill by attendants. The first ride resembling modern coasters opened in Paris in 1817. The wheels were locked onto a track and the ride reached speed of 40 mph, enough to complete a circular track and return to the starting point. In 1884 at Coney Island, the Gravity Pleasure Switchback Railway became the first specially-built roller coaster in America.

Builder La Marcus Adna Thompson recovered his $1,600 investment in just three weeks, and roller coasters were here to stay. The first looping coaster was built in Paris in 1846 the Centrifugal Railway. America had similar rides in the early 1900s, but the strain ande speed necessary to get cars, through loop didn't appeal to passengers, and looping coasters disappeared until the 1970s. During the 1920s, roller coasters thrived, with more than 1,500 existing worldwide by 1929. But the Great Depression hit coasters just like it did everything else, and by 1960; there were fewer than 200 coasters in the U.S.

When Walt Disney built Disneyland in California in the late 1950s, amusement parks were reborn and so, too, were roller coasters. Today, 289 roller coasters are in operation in North America and more than 500 are running worldwide. 2 adults, 9 ju juveniles charged in 'near riots' Activist denies wrongdoing at hospital tried after Last By ERIK ARNESON Staff Writer The man charged with leading what city police called an organized march on Good Samaritan Hospital in which a crowd directed obscene chants toward police denies any wrongdoing. William Dumas, chairman of the Committee Against Discrimination and Social Injustice (CADSD, said he went to the scene of an incident at Partridge and Scull streets after he received several "frantic phone calls" from area residents concerned about the behavior of police, he said. The entire incident started with a simple pushing match between two girls, 15 and 17, Dumas claims.

Police were called, but when they arrived the fight was over, he said. Dumas' version of events is in stark contrast to what police say in court documents. Dumas, 38, of 1503 Plaza a Apartments, alleges that police, after seeing that the pushing match broken up, drove around until "they found a group of Hispanics on Lehman Street." They arrested two Hispanic boys from that group over the objections of one boy's mother, Mirta Diossa, Dumas said. The two teenagers kicked out the back window of police cruiser after they were taken into custody. "There was no reason to pick those boys Diossa, 38, of 338 N.

Partridge Lebaup," Dumas said. non, was charged yesterday, with resisting arrest, disorderly an additional stemming from incidents at the hospital and at Partridge and Scull charge streets, police said. Nine juveniles also will face charges, police said. Police say they were called to quell a fight involving a large group of people Partridge and Scull streets shortly before 7:15 p.m., and that they were told the participants had baseball bats. A police officer said last Friday that some in the group did have sticks.

According to Diossa, after car and police followed picked her son, she got into her up The Daily News, LOCAL As police allegedly were manhandling Diossa, her son kicked out a window in the police car and tried to protect her, the woman said. Diossa said there was one officer at the scene who tried to protect her from further abuse. "This is Alabama back in the '60s," said Luis Arocho 1330 Harding Lane, Lebanon, who works with Dumas at CADSI. Arocho claimed police maliciously prosecute minorities and poor whites "to cover up police brutality." Dumas and several members of the community formed the civil-rights groups earlier this year to combat racially motivated problems and discrimination. The group's office is located on Cumberland Street.

District Attorney Brad Charles said there is a problem between ethnic groups in Lebanon County. "We'd have our heads in the sand if we didn't recognize that," said. ity seem to blame everything that goes "Certain segments of the Hispanic con communwrong in the Hispanic community on whites and the city government." At the same time, Charles said, some whites "are out there saying all the problems in Lebanon County are caused by ethnic minorities coming in from New York City." That, Charles said, is simply not true. "The vast majority of the Hispanic community is an asset to Lebanon County. They bring a lot of good things to this county." Dumas agreed there is a race-relations problem in Lebanon, but there are also "a lot of good people." He wants elected officials to take the lead in fighting the "There has to be a change," he said.

problem. There is a significant lack of communication between the police department and the community, especially the city's North Side, Arocho said. Charles also said communication is vital to finding a solution. "There has to be some dialogue to address this problem," he said. TR The following people have been admitted and discharged from the Hyman S.

Caplan Pavilion, according to hospital records. ADMISSIONS Melissa A. Daub, Fredericksburg Nancy Otero, Lebanon Sharon L. Gassert, Lebanon Terri Ortiz, Lebanon DISCHARGES Colleen Blackman and newborn, Cleona Terrie L. Ebright and newborn, Lebanon Wendy A.

Mallow and newborn, Hummelstown GSH NEWS The following people have been admitted and discharged from the Good Samaritan Hospital, according to hospital records. ADMISSIONS wTenika M. Travis, Jonestown Roland T. Tullio, Myerstown Sally A. Bressler, Lebanon George S.

Kunder, Lebanon Bernard J. Gabriel, Lebanon Dottie V. Fake, Jonestown DISCHARGES Joe S. Dechert, Jonestown Esther M. Allwein, Lebanon Joseph F.

Stakem, Williamstown Ruth A. Vradenburgh, Lebanon the police cruiser. At Partridge and Scull streets, the police cruiser stopped, an officer got out and began questioning Diossa, she said. At the same time, up to seven additional city police cars arrived on the scene, Dumas said. Police asked Diossa why she was following them, she said.

She said she told them she was going to the police department with her son, and they allegedly told her not to. Then "they grabbed her, slammed her into a wall and beat her," Dumas said. Diossa said she's considering filing a federal civil suit against the police department. Dumas claims that more than a dozen such suits have already been filed against city police. However, a spokesman in the clark of courts office at the U.S.

Middle District Court in Harrisburg, where such suits would be filed, could find only one case listing the Lebanon city police as a defendant this morning. That one, filed in 1995, has already been closed, he said. A check under "Lebanon city" turned up one case from 1994, also closed. Lebanon County District Attorney Brad Charles contradicted Dumas' version of last weekend's events. He said the police did well to contain what could have been an explosive situation.

"The city police did a wonderful job defusing the incident last weekend," he said. "It was something that could have truly turned Lebanon city police chief Bernie Reilly said this morning he could not comment on the incident because charges had been filed. Diossa's 14-year-old daughter said she chased after the police car her brother was in on foot. When she saw police abusing her mother, she said, she yelled at them to stop. By this time, Diossa said, a crowd of about 40 people had reportedly gathered at the scene.

A police officer threw Diossa's daughter to the ground, the girl said, and then stepped on her back. Dumas, who arrived at the scene near the end, said witnesses told him the police sprayed Mace on the gathered crowd. (Continued from page 1) as adults. week's disturbances began police were called to quell a fight involving a large group of people at Partridge Street and the railroad tracks shortly before 7:15 p.m. According to police sources, the intial fight began as a dispute between two girls over a minor matter.

That fight escalated later in the day and more people from the neighborhood became involved, according to reports. Police responding to the scene were told the participants had baseball bats. A police officer said last Friday the group had sticks. State police and officers from police departments outside the city reportedly were called in to assist. According to police sources, two city boys were taken into custody and put in the back of a cruiser car.

Police allege the teenagers kicked out the back window of the car during the incident. Diossa, the mother of one of the boys taken into custody, reportedly suffered an asthma attack during the incident and had to be taken to Good Samaritan Hospital for treatment. About an hour and a half later, police were called to Good Samaritan Hospital for a large group that had gathered there. Hospital security tried to get; the crowd estimated at 30 to people inside the emergency room to move, according to a police affidavit. A hospital security officer said: Dumas walked up to him and told the officer the crowd would li listen to Dumas.

The security officer. asked Dumas to move everyone. except two adults and two children from the emergency room, according to the affidavit. Dumas allegedly turned to the group and said, "OK, folks, this is what we are going to do The police affidavit states the group: then followed Dumas out the door of the emergency room. Outside, the group continued to chant and the hospital security officer told Dumas that they were disrupting hospital activities, police said.

The officer asked them to stop chanting and leave, according to the affidavit. Dumas allegedly refused and told the security officer, "At least I am keeping things nonviolent right now." Dumas told the security officer the chanting was directed at city police, according to the affidavit. The officer again asked Dumas to tell the group to stop chanting and leave, according to the affidas vit. Dumas told the officer he couldn't because it was "freedom of speech," the affidavit states. DR.

OTTO IS MOVING NEW LOCATION BEGINNING MAY 28TH 702 South 12th Street of 12th Jackson Blvd. Buildings North of the Weis Market Phone Numbers Unchanged: 273-4681 or 273-4363.