John Travlota Extortion Attempt: Police Reveals Details
January 28th, 2009
Authorities in the Bahamas have revealed details behind an extortion attempt against John Travolta, in which a paramedic allegedly tried to extort US$25 million from the movie star with a medical document.
Tarino Lightbourn, an Emergency Services Tech II with the Rand Memorial Hospital ambulance squad in Freeport, has been charged with conspiracy to commit extortion and attempted extortion. He has been in custody since his arrest on Friday January 23.
He pleaded not guilty on Monday (January 26) and is scheduled to appear before Magistrate Carolita Bethel in Nassau on Wednesday (January 28).
The case revolves around Lightbourn’s efforts to allegedly sell a one-page “refusal to transport” document that Travolta signed when Lightbourn was treating the actor’s 16-year-old son, Jett.
Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police Marvin Dames tells People magazine, “The document did not apply in the Travolta case. It did not apply because he was very ill, and so, the only alternative would be to take him to the hospital. Refusal to transport documents are for cases involving minor injuries. If your injuries are minor and you don’t want to be transported, the ambulance driver would produce that form. It waives responsibility on the part of the hospital.”
Dames insists that the Travoltas did everything possible to save their son, saying, “We were satisfied from all our investigations that the Travolta family and those who rendered aid to Jett did all that was humanly possible to revive Jett. All did what they were able to resuscitate him.”
He adds, “There’s no evidence to support that there was any effort to avoid medical treatment. Lightbourn said that himself in several interviews.”
According to Dames, the alleged attempted extortion took place a fortnight ago when Lightbourn’s attorney, former Bahamian Sen. Pleasant Bridgewater, called an attorney for Travolta in the US saying that her client wanted to sell the document. Travolta then complained to the Royal Bahamian Police through his attorney.
“The complaint states the request was for US$25 million. At the time, she represented the young man. She would have made the request,” Dames says.
For now, the police are having difficulty determining the authenticity of the document Lightbourn allegedly tried to sell to Travolta.
“We don’t know where the original is,” Dames says. “We don’t know if he generated the document.”
