Steroids, Scandal and Silence
Sometimes a story seems beyond reality. Or, more precisely, it deals with people who are far removed from our reality. Such is the case with the Mitchell report and steroid use in baseball. The cast of characters are millionaires whose lofty status put some of them as posters on young baseball fans' walls.
The story came a little closer to home recently, with a pharmacy in my neighborhood of Bay Ridge being implicated in steroid sales to some New York police officers. The Lowen's Pharmacy was also mentioned in the Mitchell report and co owner, John Rossi committed suicide Monday night.
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John Rossi, 56, of Lowen's Pharmacy in Bay Ridge, was found slumped on the floor near his son-in-law's desk in a second-floor office over the store at 7 p.m. He had shot himself once in the head, sources said. A .380-caliber handgun was still in his hand. ... Lowen's was raided last May, when medical records and millions of dollars worth of performance-enhancing drugs were seized. Police sources said prescriptions were filled there by several cops. Using steroids violates NYPD policy. Rossi "was a different person after that," said customer Barbara Rosentreter. "You could see the worry in his face." Five cops failed subsequent tests and face departmental charges, a source said. Rossi had not been charged. The raid was part of a wide-ranging probe by Albany DA David Soares into illegal prescription-drug sales that allegedly involved a slew of major-league ballplayers, including former Yankee stars Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte. The probe targeted steroid suppliers. The Lowen's raid in May - and another in October - were mentioned in last month's bombshell Mitchell report, which documented the use of steroids in Major League Baseball. |
Some are speculating that there is mob involvement and Rossi's death may have been a way to keep him quiet. the New York Daily News describes an odd scene that resembles a hit more than a suicide.
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The Bay Ridge businessman's death was as gruesome as a mob hit. Authorities say he fired one bullet from a .380 automatic Beretta into his chest - but missed all vital organs, either though nerves or poor aim. Bleeding, he then pointed the handgun at his head and pulled the trigger, authorities said. |
I pass this pharmacy every day on the way to work and there was police activity around 8am Tuesday morning. Lowen's has been a fixture in Bay Ridge as long as I can remember and as I mentioned above, even the most far off scandals can turn up right in your backyard.