Read the police report for the 17-year-old injured at Scientology’s ‘Flag’ building

On October 19, Tracey McManus at the Tampa Bay Times revealed that a somewhat strange thing had happened at Scientology’s vaunted “Flag Building” — more colloquially known as the “Super Power Building,” which opened in 2013 after some two decades of fundraising and construction.

The building includes the space age coolness of the fifth floor “Perceptics” stations, as well as a huge running track on the sixth floor, and elaborate personal office space for Scientology leader David Miscavige on its seventh and top floor.

McManus reported that on Sunday, October 15, a 17-year-old girl from Mexico suffered a head injury in the building, and there were a lot of questions about the way Scientology had handled it. The girl was in the country by herself, and her parents were in Mexico. Although her injury was serious enough to need hospitalization, the Scientologists on the scene had not called 911, but instead had decided to drive her to a hospital themselves. And they had bypassed the closest medical facility, Morton Plant Hospital, to go to one several miles farther, Largo Medical Center. (This, of course, reminded us of one of Scientology’s worst debacles in its history, the death of Lisa McPherson.)

She was then moved to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg. But it wasn’t until a social worker made a call several days later that police were asked to look into what had happened. On October 19, Clearwater Police visited the girl at the hospital, and then wrote up a report.

They were told that the girl had slipped on some stairs in the building, and that it was simply an accident. The police asked for, and received, surveillance footage of the incident, which was also shown to McManus, who, in a followup story, concluded that the girl had been injured in an accident.

Now, we have the police report itself, and we thought you’d want to read it.

 
So we’ve learned a few more details. The young woman was at Flag for “study,” but she was moving too quickly down some marble stairs to the staff mess hall in the basement and lost her footing. She bruised her forehead and fractured the back of her skull.

We don’t have an image of the staircase, but we do have a rendering of what that mess hall looks like, which we first published with the other renderings of the Super Power building in 2012, the year before the building opened.

Here’s that basement cafeteria…

 
Why, we wonder, would a 17-year-old at Flag for “study” be eating in the staff cafeteria? It may not be important, but we are curious if she was there as a recruit, perhaps in the Sea Org on an R-1 visa, which has become so common for Scientology.

We sent a message to the girl’s father to ask about that, and we’ll let you know if he gets back to us.

The family lives in the Mexican state of Sonora, and both of the girl’s parents are active in Scientology. According to their social media accounts, their daughter left for her course of study at Flag on September 18.

Most recently, her mother said that the girl was healing, “little by little.”

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on November 4, 2017 at 07:00

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The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2016 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Undergound Bunker (2012-2016), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)

Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…

BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of L.A. attorney and former church member Vance Woodward
UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists
GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice
SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts

Other links: Shelly Miscavige, ten years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | Scientology’s Private Dancer | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | Scientology boasts about assistance from Google | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ

Our Guide to Alex Gibney’s film ‘Going Clear,’ and our pages about its principal figures…
Jason Beghe | Tom DeVocht | Sara Goldberg | Paul Haggis | Mark “Marty” Rathbun | Mike Rinder | Spanky Taylor | Hana Whitfield