A 24-year-old Hillsboro man who was transported by Joachim-Plattin Ambulance to Mercy Hospital Jefferson in Crystal City is accused of stealing a cellphone from the ambulance, authorities reported.
At 4:20 p.m. June 10, Festus Police got a call from JPAD officials saying they believed the phone was stolen and was at an address on Cliff Drive in Festus, said Tim Lewis, the Festus Police chief.
“They had transported a patient from Herculaneum to Mercy Jefferson Hospital earlier in the day and found a phone missing,” Lewis said. “They pinged it (the phone) and found it at an address in Festus. We went there and arrested (the suspect).”
After officers confronted the suspect about the missing phone, he allegedly turned it over to them, Lewis said.
He said the suspect was taken into custody, booked and released pending application for warrants,
Neither Lewis nor Kevin Dennis, a JPAD captain, knew why the suspect needed medical attention.
Dennis said he believes the suspect stole the phone from a charger in the ambulance.
“We think he passed the phone when he was going out of the ambulance,” Dennis said. “It’s a cell phone we use to communicate with hospitals.”
Dennis said the phone was not damaged, although it had to be “reprogrammed.”
He said he is not aware of anyone stealing a phone from JPAD before.