Former Ambulance Driver Pleads Guilty to Stealing Heart Monitors from Ambulances

Topics:  Lifestar

U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Columbia
May 17, 2010

WASHINGTON—A 31-year-old former ambulance driver for Lifestar Response of DC (“Lifestar”), Kyle Walcott, has pled guilty to the felony charge of Theft in Connection with Health Care for stealing two Lifepak 12 Defibrillator/Monitors—heart monitors—from two Lifestar ambulances, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. announced today.

Walcott, currently residing in the 3700 block of Gough Street, Baltimore, MD, entered his guilty plea today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Alan Kay in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. When Walcott is sentenced on August 4, 2010, before U.S. District Judge Ellen Huvelle, he faces a maximum of up to 10 years of imprisonment and a likely sentencing range of no more than six months in jail and/or a fine of between $1,000 and $10,000 in accordance with the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

According to the government’s proffered evidence, Lifestar had contracts with a number of area hospitals, including Children’s Hospital and the Washington Hospital Center (Medstar), to provide ambulances and drivers for the transport of patients to the hospitals for medical treatment. Walcott worked briefly for Lifestar in November 2008. During that time, he drove ambulances transporting patients to Children’s and Medstar. Each ambulance transporting patients was equipped with a Lifepak 12 Defibrillator/Monitor, an expensive piece of equipment (purchased new for approximately $15,000) used to monitor a patient’s heartbeat. On November 15, 2008, Walcott stole a Lifepak from a Lifestar ambulance parked in the Children’s Hospital parking garage. On November 16, 2008, Walcott stole a second Lifepak from an ambulance parked at Lifestar’s facility on V Street, Northeast, used to transport Medstar patients.

Walcott got caught when he tried to sell the two stolen Lifepaks to a company in upstate New York with which he had done business on occasion in the past selling used medical equipment. Because the two Lifepaks were fairly new and very expensive, the company became suspicious, traced the serial numbers back to Lifestar, and learned the Lifepaks were stolen. Following a thorough investigation, Walcott admitted his guilt when interviewed by the investigators on the case.

In announcing today’s guilty plea, U.S. Attorney Machen praised the work of the investigative agents involved in this matter, Detective John Cobb of the Metropolitan Police Department and Special Agent David Carrigan of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He also acknowledged the efforts of Legal Assistants Jamasee Lucas and Sierra Tate, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Friedman, who is handling this prosecution.