Officer Doesn't Buy USC Dean's Overdose Story In Police Recording

PASADENA, CA — Pasadena City officials released police reports and interview recordings Tuesday from the night last year when police were called because an alleged prostitute overdosed in a Pasadena hotel room with then USC medical school dean Carmen Puliafito.

Under fire for waiting three months until after Los Angeles Times reporters began asking questions to file a report about the incident, Pasadena officials say the recordings show former USC medical school dean Carmen Puliafito did not try to influence a police officer regarding his investigation into the woman's hotel room drug overdose. However Puliafito did tell the investigating officer a story about being a helpful family friend of the young woman, a claim both the officer and hospital social worker found laughable, according to the recording.

RELATED: USC, Medical Board Respond To Firestorm Around Dean's Alleged Drug Abuse

On the defense for the police department's handling of the case, Pasadena city officials took the unusual step of issuing a statement explaining outcome of the investigation.

“Due to the public interest in this matter regarding Dr. Puliafito’s interaction with Pasadena police, the City is releasing these documents and the recordings,” City Manager Mermell said. “We want to assure the public that our officer responded and investigated the incident. The recordings clearly show no one , including Dr. Puliafito, attempted to influence the officer or have him dismiss the incident in any way.”

According to city officials, "There was, and still is, no evidence in the possession of the Pasadena Police Department that Dr. Puliafito committed a crime the night of March 4, 2016 in Pasadena. The 1.16 grams of methamphetamine found inside an unoccupied hotel room were not in anyone’s physical possession, limiting any value as possible evidence for prosecution."

In the audio of the police questioning of Puliafito at the hospital the night the 21-year-old woman overdosed, the doctor claims he is a friend of the girl's father and that he got her a hotel room while she was in-between living situations. He denied having a sexual relationship with the woman nor being aware of her drug use that day.

Patch and other media outlets have been unable to reach Puliafito for comment.

However, according to the Los Angeles Times, the woman claimed she had a longstanding sexual relationship with Puliafito, and she showed reporters videos of the pair doing drugs together at the hotel before the overdose and again shortly after she was released from the hospital.

The investigating officer didn't find Puliafito's version of events believable, according to the audio recording.

“You buy it?” a social worker asks him on the recording.

"No," the officer replies.

"An old family friend," scoffs the social worker. "And a friend of the father? Excuse me," she laughs.

USC has begun the process to terminate Puliafito and strip him of his faculty tenure because of alleged substance abuse activities.

Released Tuesday along with the audio recordings of police interviews with Puliafito and hotel staff after the March 4, 2016, overdose were the incident and property seizure reports.

Redacted copies of the written reports had been previously released to news media under a public records request.

Police Chief Phillip Sanchez defended the investigation

"The officer filled out a property report that night and he preserved the evidence and documented the confiscation of methamphetamine in a timely manner," Sanchez stated.

"The officer also conducted and recorded an interview of Dr. Puliafito, correctly preserving his statement and ultimately writing a report on June 8, 2016. We do recognize that the incident report was not written in a timely manner in conjunction with the property report."

No reason was given for the delay.

Puliafito is under immediate suspension from the university, barred from its campuses and any association with USC, including attending or participating in university events, Michael W. Quick, the university's provost and senior vice president for academic affair wrote in a memo to faculty members.

"We certainly understand that substance abuse is a tragic and devastating disease," Quick wrote. "But we are also bound to our responsibilities as a university to take the necessary actions concerning Dr. Puliafito's status."

USC President C.L. Max Nikias has announced that former federal prosecutor Debra Wong Yang has been hired to look into recent allegations by the Los Angeles Times that Puliafito abused hard drugs and associated with criminals and drug users.

Puliafito, 66, a renowned eye surgeon, led the Keck School of Medicine for almost a decade before resigning in 2016. He remained on the Keck faculty and continued to represent the university at public events as recently as this summer.

The Times published an article reporting that during his tenure as dean, Puliafito kept company with a circle of criminals and addicts who said he used drugs with them. The same day as the report, USC said Puliafito was no longer seeing patients and was on leave. Puliafito resigned his $1.1 million-a-year dean's post in March 2016, saying he wanted to explore outside opportunities.

Yang is a former U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, a former state judge and a former member of the Los Angeles Police Commission. She currently is a partner in the international law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

Nikias said Yang will investigate the details of Puliafito's conduct, the university's response, as well as its existing policies and procedures and make findings and recommendations to the USC Board of Trustees Executive Committee.

City News Service contributed to this report. Photo by University of Southern California courtesy of Wikimedia Commons