-jma
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/ny-lidoc0615,0,2598190.story
Police: Manhasset doctor hid camera in office restroom
BY MATTHEW CHAYES and SOPHIA CHANG
9:21 PM EDT, June 14, 2008
A North Hills doctor was arraigned Saturday on charges he installed
an air purifier with a hidden video camera inside a bathroom at his
cardiology practice, police said.
Dr. Vincent Pacienza, 54, of 404 Links Dr., pleaded not guilty to a
single felony charge of unlawful surveillance in First District Court
in Hempstead and posted bail of $2,500. His next court date is Tuesday.
Efforts to contact Pacienza and his family were unsuccessful
Saturday. Records show he incorporated his practice, the Manhasset
Cardiovascular and Wellness Center at 75 Plandome Rd., in January 2001.
The purifier was purchased at thespystore.com, police said at a news
conference in Mineola Saturday.
The purifier, listed for $699, features a "built-in color camera and
carrier current video transmitter is completely undetectable,"
according to the Web site.
The doctor's office staff discovered the device after receiving a
bill from thespystore.com, said Det. Lt. Kevin Smith.
The staff looked at the Web site and recognized the air purifier
listed there as similar to the one recently installed in the 8-by-8
office restroom, Smith said.
Pacienza was arrested at his medical office around 5 p.m. Friday, police said.
Investigators said the device was installed within the past two
weeks, and it was unclear if anyone was recorded -- they have yet to
examine all the items seized from Pacienza's office and home that
could contain the images.
"If you had visited him within the past two weeks, it's possible that
your image could have been captured in that room, had you used that
bathroom," Smith said.
Charges may be upgraded against Pacienza if police find "images that
he might have captured of people in various stages of undress or
taking care of personal necessity," Smith said.
"There never was a problem before," said Ellen Salvaggio, who worked
at Pacienza's practice as a diagnostic cardiac sonographer for 12
years until she moved to Florida in 2003.
Efforts to reach other staff members at Pacienza's office were
unsuccessful Saturday.
Pacienza was licensed to practice medicine in New York in 1983, and
he graduated in 1982 from medical school at the University of
Monterrey in Nuevo Leon, Mexico, records show.
He received further training at the New Rochelle Hospital Medical
Center and at Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola, according to records.
In the past six years he has had hospital privileges at Winthrop and
at St. Francis Hospital in Flower Hill, though a spokesman for
Winthrop said he was not on the medical staff at the hospital. A
spokesman for St. Francis declined to comment.
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Received on Sat Mar 02 2024 - 00:57:29 CST