Radioactive Man Pulled Over by Connecticut Police
A man driving in Connecticut was stopped by police after a device used to detect radioactive material was triggered as he passed the police cruiser.
Mike Apatow, who is a firefighter in Stratford, was on his way to the firehouse when he was pulled over by police. The man, who was momentarily thought to be radioactive, set off a detector in a state patrol car, who then initiated the vehicle stop.
When the state trooper began to talk with the driver of the vehicle, he was informed that Apatow had just come from the doctor's office where he had a procedure done.
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The procedure, called a nuclear stress test, is used to measure a person's blood-pressure readings. The stress test requires a small amount of radioactive material to be injected into the blood stream to track the flow of blood throughout the body.
While the amount of radioactive material was very small, he was still advised to stay at least 10 feet away from his baby at home for at least 24 hours.
Apatow was on his way to work at the fire department when he happened to pass by a state police cruiser as he was getting on to the highway and set off the detector.
"They're very sensitive," according to State Police spokesman Paul Vance.
When questioned, Apatow showed the police officer a note written by the doctor explaining the recent procedure.
"I had no idea the police even had devices like that … I imagined it being like a cartoon- like I'm driving down the street and my car was glowing," Apatow said.
It is not widely known that radiation detectors are in police cruisers, but they are used to detect possible terrorist activity.
"It's definitely known that this happens, and we do let patients know that there is a chance that they could be picked up," Dr. Gilead Lancaster, of Bridgeport Hospital said.
