Monday, Sep. 28, 1987
American Notes DETROIT
As bereaved relatives huddled in shock and grief at Detroit Metropolitan Airport last month after the Northwest Airlines crash that killed 156 people, the Rev. John Irish, a Roman Catholic priest, was on hand to console them. And, apparently, to con them. Last week Detroit authorities said that Irish, who was dressed in a black suit and clerical collar, was actually a veteran ambulance chaser posing as a priest to steer business to a Florida lawyer named Ronald Brimmell. Says Wayne County Sheriff Robert Ficano: "He would try to win the confidence of victims' families, and then say, 'I have this friend who is an attorney . . .' "
Ficano said the good father has been observed at disaster sites in at least seven other states. Although Irish has not been charged with a crime and Brimmell denies using anyone to solicit business, Detroit authorities are investigating whether the "priest" committed fraud.