TENNESSEE COMPUTERS STOLEN FROM HOSPITAL Herald-Citizen Online Edition - Cookeville, TN
Herald-Citizen Staff
Tuesday, Feb 19, 2008
COOKEVILLE -- Packed like a little city into a small, busy area and growing all the time, Cookeville Regional Hospital is experiencing an increase in crime.
Thieves have targeted the city hospital in recent months, stealing from patients there, swiping cash and other valuables out of employees' purses, and also making off with television sets from lobbies and computers from offices.
As one of this area's largest employers (more than 1,500), an average patient census of around 200, and a place frequented daily by vendors and visitors, as well as currently being in the middle of a large construction project, the hospital is arguably the busiest place in Cookeville.
Here are some of the recent cases now under investigation by the Cookeville Police Dept., as well as by the hospital's in-house security force, which is headed by Jimmy Nevins:
* On Feb. 8, security officers at the hospital called police and reported that someone had stolen a Sanyo 15-inch TV out of a hospital lobby. Officer Chris Ferguson said the TV set had been unscrewed from the wall mount.
In another report on that case, Officer Joe Greenwood said a video tape of the incident shows two thieves taking the TV.
* On Feb. 13, Officer Cary Matheney took a report from a hospital employee who said she had arrived at her job in the Imaging Department around 8:30 p.m. Feb. 12 and left her purse in that restricted area for a time.
When she was ready to leave work at the end of her shift, she found that $1,500 cash had been taken out of her wallet.
* On Feb. 15, Officer Jeremy Lintz took a report from a hospital employee about the theft of computers.
His report says that sometime between Feb. 5 and Feb. 14, someone stole two Dell monitors and a Compaq computer, the total valued at $1,300, out of an office at the hospital.
* On Feb. 15, Officer Mark Loftis took a report about the theft of a hospital employee's wallet.
The employee had placed her wallet in her locker in her work area and discovered later that someone had stolen it. The wallet contained $200 cash and her credit cards.
* Back in January, a thief entered a patient's room and stole her purse, which contained credit cards and a checkbook.
* In December, a Sparta woman who was a patient in the hospital reported that someone had stolen cash out of her purse.
* Also in December, a woman who was sitting with a relative who was a patient in the hospital reported that her purse was stolen one night while she slept.
Two persons were charged in late December with illegal possession or fraudulent use of a credit card in connection with one of those cases.
Officer Jamey McCurry took warrants against William Robert Vandagriff, 27, and Courtney Roseann Vandagriff, 21, both of Oak St., Baxter.
The warrants allege that the two used credit cards which had been stolen in one of the hospital cases.
The two were arrested and booked and their cases are still pending.
They are not charged with any of the other cases, and all of the cases remain under investigation, police said.
Thieves have targeted the city hospital in recent months, stealing from patients there, swiping cash and other valuables out of employees' purses, and also making off with television sets from lobbies and computers from offices.
As one of this area's largest employers (more than 1,500), an average patient census of around 200, and a place frequented daily by vendors and visitors, as well as currently being in the middle of a large construction project, the hospital is arguably the busiest place in Cookeville.
Here are some of the recent cases now under investigation by the Cookeville Police Dept., as well as by the hospital's in-house security force, which is headed by Jimmy Nevins:
* On Feb. 8, security officers at the hospital called police and reported that someone had stolen a Sanyo 15-inch TV out of a hospital lobby. Officer Chris Ferguson said the TV set had been unscrewed from the wall mount.
In another report on that case, Officer Joe Greenwood said a video tape of the incident shows two thieves taking the TV.
* On Feb. 13, Officer Cary Matheney took a report from a hospital employee who said she had arrived at her job in the Imaging Department around 8:30 p.m. Feb. 12 and left her purse in that restricted area for a time.
When she was ready to leave work at the end of her shift, she found that $1,500 cash had been taken out of her wallet.
* On Feb. 15, Officer Jeremy Lintz took a report from a hospital employee about the theft of computers.
His report says that sometime between Feb. 5 and Feb. 14, someone stole two Dell monitors and a Compaq computer, the total valued at $1,300, out of an office at the hospital.
* On Feb. 15, Officer Mark Loftis took a report about the theft of a hospital employee's wallet.
The employee had placed her wallet in her locker in her work area and discovered later that someone had stolen it. The wallet contained $200 cash and her credit cards.
* Back in January, a thief entered a patient's room and stole her purse, which contained credit cards and a checkbook.
* In December, a Sparta woman who was a patient in the hospital reported that someone had stolen cash out of her purse.
* Also in December, a woman who was sitting with a relative who was a patient in the hospital reported that her purse was stolen one night while she slept.
Two persons were charged in late December with illegal possession or fraudulent use of a credit card in connection with one of those cases.
Officer Jamey McCurry took warrants against William Robert Vandagriff, 27, and Courtney Roseann Vandagriff, 21, both of Oak St., Baxter.
The warrants allege that the two used credit cards which had been stolen in one of the hospital cases.
The two were arrested and booked and their cases are still pending.
They are not charged with any of the other cases, and all of the cases remain under investigation, police said.
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