Another 48 hours
Albert Arroyo, on the left, with his attorney. From The Boston Globe’s Jim Davis.
The latest in the saga of bodybuilder/disabled firefighter Albert Arroyo. Excerpts from an article by The Boston Globe’s John C. Drake. Click here to read the rest and see the video:
Boston firefighter Albert Arroyo was given 48 hours this afternoon to produce new evidence to corroborate what he has claimed was a career-ending back injury after he met with top department officials for an hour behind closed doors.
Arroyo pleaded his case for his disability pension before a three-member panel that included Fire Commissioner Roderick Fraser, who has accused him of shopping for a doctor who would sign off on the injury. Arroyo competed in a bodybuilding contest six weeks after he reported suffering a fall in a fire station that he said prevented him from working as an inspector.
Attorney Neil Osborne vigorously defended Arroyo after the hearing, telling reporters that his client never lied about his injury. Arroyo’s bodybuilding routine was part of a rehabilitation program the lawyer said was recommended by a personal trainer to mend his ailing back.
“Mr. Arroyo has done absolutely nothing wrong,” Osborne said. “There has been a swirl of information … based on being seen in a bodybuilding video that he has somehow committed fraud. Nothing could be further from the truth.
“All that Mr. Arroyo did was try to get better,” Osborne said.
