Hospital security nab man breaking into ambulance www.privateofficer.com
Denton TX July 30 2011
Police say a hospital scrubs-clad man caught breaking into an ambulance outside a Denton hospital early Thursday may be linked to similar crimes in the area.
The 43-year-old man, jailed on a misdemeanor vehicle burglary charge, is a suspect in two other ambulance burglaries in Denton this month and similar cases in at least two other cities, Lewisville and Coppell, said Ryan Grelle, a spokesman for the Denton Police Department.
The man was being held Thursday afternoon in lieu of $10,000 bail.
“Right now he’s charged with one burglary of a motor vehicle from last night,” Grelle said. “He’s a suspect in the others, but he’s refusing to talk to the detectives. We’re trying to piece everything together.”
The arrest occurred after 1 a.m. Thursday in the 3000 block of North Interstate 35. An off-duty police officer working security at the hospital saw the suspect opening doors to an ambulance that had just delivered a patient to the emergency room, according to police reports.
The suspect first said he was trying to locate the patient but quickly changed his story and said he was looking for paramedics so he could inquire about a job, according to police reports. The suspect said he was a paramedic but offered vague and conflicting information about his work history, according to the reports.
Police had been told to be on the lookout for a man driving a silver Jeep who was suspected in ambulance burglaries at area hospitals. The suspect’s vehicle matched the description, and he was arrested after he tried to walk away from the officer questioning him, according to police reports.
The two earlier Denton cases involved stolen medical kits. Nothing was reported missing from the ambulance in the latest case.
