Watts Residents Beware

NEWARK, N.J. — A doctor pleaded guilty Thursday to stealing a hand from a cadaver at the University of Medicine and Dentistry in Newark. The hand was later found by police at the home of a stripper in South Plainfield.

Under a plea agreement, Ahmed Rashed, 26, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of third-degree theft, said Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Judson Hamlin.

Rashed got to know Linda Kay, an exotic dancer, while he was a medical student. He gave the left hand to Kay, 31, during one of his visits the club where she worked, Hott 22 in Union, which features all-nude dancers.

"Our investigation revealed that she expressed an interest to him in acquiring one, and he followed through with her request," Hamlin said.

Rashed's attorney, Kalman Geist, said his client, while a first-year medical student in 2002, removed the hand from a fully dissected cadaver that was scheduled for cremation.

Rashed is currently in his third-year of residency at a hospital of the Watts section of Los Angeles. "A lot of people do things when they're 22 that they wouldn't do 10 years later," Geist said.

--- Yep, youthful indiscretion … who amongst us hasn't wanted to sever the hand from a cadaver to give to a stripper? Rashed – who's your daddy?