CALIFORNIA COMPUTERS STOLEN FROM MEDICAL BUILDINGWhittier Daily News - NewsComputers, cash stolen from medical offices
By Marshall Allen, Staff Writer



ARCADIA -- While many officers of the Arcadia Police Department were occupied in a dangerous stand-off with a man who allegedly shot and killed his wife, burglars stole computers, monitors and cash from 22 offices in a medical building, authorities said.

Sometime between Monday night and Tuesday morning, a team of burglars pried open doors to doctors' offices in the medical building at 612 Duarte Road, said Sgt. Paul Foley of the Arcadia Police Department. The police got their first call about the burglaries at 6:39 a.m., he said.

Foley said it's possible the thieves were motivated by a desire to steal equipment or by the potential for identity theft, if they grabbed the medical records stored in the building. He did not know of any medical records reported stolen, however.

The night of the burglary, Arcadia police were gathered in force outside the home of Richard and Carmen Russo, in the 200 block of Arbolada Drive. Richard Russo is being held without bail in county jail for allegedly killing his wife while his children slept in the house, holding the police at bay until
he surrendered Tuesday morning.

Investigating the Russo homicide has consumed the Arcadia detective bureau's resources since both incidents, Foley said. Several fingerprints found at the burglary scene will be run through a criminal database, but investigators have no suspects in the case, he said.

Dr. Kee Koh, an obstetrician who works in the building, said the burglars took brand-name computers and monitors, stamps, petty cash and Viagra. He said he had not heard of any doctors who were missing medical records.

Koh said he lost three Dell monitors and two Dell computers from an office he shares with another doctor. He estimated the total loss at about $5,000.

-- Marshall Allen can be reached at (626) 578-6300, Ext. 4461, or by e-mail at marshall.allen@sgvn.com