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Roman Kuzmin, 24                                              December  2001

Russian Surgeon, 24, Dies on Highway While Fleeing Police
By Masha Herbst
Associated Press Writer

WATERBURY, Conn. (AP) - A 24-year-old Russian surgeon studying in Connecticut was fatally struck by a car as he fled a store with three stolen rolls of film, police said.

Doctors who worked with Roman Kuzmin at Waterbury Hospital said they were stunned to hear of his death Sunday evening and many couldn't believe the circumstances.

"I think that's rubbish," said Ted Kennon, a Yale physician who worked closely with Kuzmin. "I'd be very surprised if there was anything to that."

According to police, Kuzmin was carrying the film when he walked outof BJ's Wholesale Club in Waterbury and security guards chased him across a parking lot after an alarm sounded.

By the time two police officers arrived, Kuzmin had fled into aravine that runs along Interstate 84, Capt. Paul Bruce said. When the officers' flashlights came upon Kuzmin, he scrambled up the embankment and onto the highway.

"The officers warned him to stop, not to go into the highway," Bruce said.

Kuzmin left Vladivostok in September to study orthopedic surgical techniques at Waterbury Hospital under a Keggi Othopedic Foundation program. Dr. Kristaps Keggi, who organized the program, said Kuzmin was "very able, very bright - a superb student and a superb individual."

Keggi said he thought it impossible that the young man would steal. He said Kuzmin was so honest that he refused to take toilet paper from the surgeon's lounge when he ran out at his apartment.

http://www.missouri.edu/~quinnl/news/kuzmin.html