An emergency medical technician has been accused of fondling a woman he was supposed to be helping.
David Taranto, an EMT for the city, was arrested on charges he allegedly groped a female patient last month in the back of an ambulance while she was being transported from the scene of an accident on Staten Island to a hospital.
Taranto was seen Tuesday outside the Staten Island Courthouse. Law enforcement sources said that Taranto, 31, put a stethoscope under her blouse and squeezed her breasts. The woman told police she was not seriously hurt yet Taranto she said stayed in the hospital with her for three hours and put her number in his phone. She said he called her for three days until she finally called police.
Taranto was suspended for 30 days without pay. He has been an EMT for seven years and had to sign an order of protection to make bail.
If convicted Taranto could face three months behind bars. He could also lose his license, meaning he would never work again as an EMT.
