Man Shot by Fake Cops Accused of Big-Time Medicaid Fraud

Last night at 4 AM, a man named Paul Magnum and his wife Laura were driving near Northeast 111th Street and 14th Avenue when he was pulled over by a Dodge Charger flashing a blue-and-red siren. A speaker attached to the Charger ordered Paul to step out of the car...

By Gus Garcia-Roberts

July 31, 2009

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Last night at 4 AM, a man named Paul Magnum and his wife Laura were driving near Northeast 111th Street and 14th Avenue when he was pulled over by a Dodge Charger flashing a blue-and-red siren. A speaker attached to the Charger ordered Paul to step out of the car and lay his hands on the trunk, and he complied. A man got out of the Charger and put a gun to his head as he rifled through his pockets. That's when Magnum probably realized these were not real cops.

He fought back, and another man ran from the Charger to begin beating him with a baseball bat. One of the attackers shot him twice, put a gun against his head, and squeezed the trigger. Luckily for Magnum, the gun was out of bullets.

Action-movie stuff. But what the Herald's account missed- Paul Magnum's criminal record- suggests that there's much more to this story. In 2006, the pharmacy-owner was charged with defrauding the Florida Medicaid program out of nearly $250,000 by billing the government for prescriptions he never actually filled. He's set to enter a plea on the charges of organized fraud and first-degree grand theft in September.

That wasn't his first run-in with the law. In 2003, he was charged with false imprisonment, battery, and kidnapping. The felony charges were dropped three years later.

Riptide is certainly intrigued, and we'll keep you posted as we find out more.

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