St. Lucie firefighter who took severed foot charged with theft

PORT ST. LUCIE - The St. Lucie County Fire District firefighter accused of absconding with a portion of a man's leg from an Interstate 95 crash scene last year was arrested Monday on a misdemeanor theft charge, a Florida Highway Patrol spokesman said.Cindy Economou, 38, who wanted the remains to help train her cadaver dog, eventually resigned after taking Karl Lambert's foot and part of his leg from the Sept. 19 crash scene, officials said.FHP officials on Monday arrested Economou, of the 500 block of Aster Road, on a second-degree petit theft charge, which is punishable by up to 60 days in jail, in connection with the incident. The warrant lists the value of Lambert's foot at less than $100."I think the issue here for everyone was unfortunately the value of the foot," said Lt. Tim Frith, FHP spokesman. "This particular bizarre incident involving a body part is not listed in the statute as far as specifying it, so therefore it would relate back to some type of monetary value."
An arrest affidavit states Economou took the foot "with the intent to either permanently or temporarily deprive the owner, Mr. Lambert, the right to his property.""This is just so unbelievable, it's like a dream I'm in," Lambert said Monday. "I can't believe it's happening."Lambert is in a wheelchair, and said the portion of his left leg from about 5 inches below the knee is missing."Every person has his breaking point and I've had mine," he said. "Sometimes it just gets harder than normal."Lambert said the end of his leg still needs to get toughened up before he can get fitted for a prosthesis. He also needs to strengthen the extremity and be able to straighten it fully. Lambert, who was in the hospital for nearly a month following the incident, couldn't talk about some aspects of the situation on the advice of his attorney, Raymond Christian, who did not immediately return a call. more