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[h1]Police: Buttock Implants Leave Woman In Coma[/h1]
[h2]Boutique Owner Michelle Roca Arrested[/h2]
POSTED: 5:09 pm EDT May 24, 2011
UPDATED: 9:01 am EDT May 25, 2011
MAULDIN, S.C. -- A woman was hospitalized and an Upstate boutique owner is in jail, in connection with buttocks implants performed without a medical license, police say.
Mauldin police arrested 35-year-old Michelle Roca on a charge of practicing medicine without a license.Investigators said a woman came to South Carolina from New Jersey to get implants in her buttocks at the Coconuk Boutique on Main Street in Mauldin. Police said that Roca flew doctors in from out of the country and got them to perform procedures at her boutique.
Investigators said that the woman is OK now, but nearly died after getting the implants.Mauldin police Sgt. Jason Peterson said, "After the procedure she became ill and had to go to the hospital and she went into a coma and it was borderline whether she was going to survive.
"He said some victims may be illegal immigrants, but officers don't care about a victim's status -- they just want them to come forward.Peterson said, "During our investigation, we saw a lot of other pictures of people who came in to have procedures and our biggest concern is that somebody else out there was injured or has become ill due to the procedures they received at Coconuk. And we really need them to come forward and contact the Mauldin Police Department and let us know that they are a victim."
Peterson said investigators are trying to stop those who are responsible for the illegal procedures.Peterson said, "If they're not licensed to practice procedures or perform them, then they don't know the safety precautions or what the health risk may be to the person receiving the procedures."
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Michelle Roca[/td][/tr][/table]
"We just need for them to come forward and stand up and let us prosecute Ms. Roca to the fullest extent for everything and let her be held accountable for her actions," he said.
Roca is being held at the Greenville County Detention Center on $50,000 bond. Investigators said other charges could be pending.Peterson said, "She did not perform the procedures, she was a facilitator. She contacted a doctor and arranged the procedures and ensured that the doctor made it in the country to perform the procedures and got him back on his flight out of the country."
The investigation is still going on, and charges against the doctor are possible. Police won’t say where the doctor came from.Peterson said, "It blew our minds that this was happening in our city."Nelson Villegas, who described himself as Roca's boyfriend and owner of the store, told News 4 by phone that the procedures didn't happen."That's impossible," Villegas told News 4's Mandy Gaither. "Because that store is no place for a clinic."
Roca's 18-year-old son, Jeffrey Franco, said the family is working on getting his mother out of jail on bond."She didn't do what is being said at all," said Franco.
Anyone who has been treated at Coconuk is asked to call Mauldin police at 864-297-5200.
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