Health worker arrested for stealing money and personal belongings from patients in Valladolid hospitals

The National Police have arrested a man in Valladolid in the northwest of Spain as the alleged perpetrator of a continuous crime of theft, following an investigation that has allowed them to link him to at least four thefts committed in hospitals in the city during the months of October and November, as well as other similar incidents that happened in previous years.

The investigation was initiated following several complaints filed between October and December this year, all of them with a common pattern: the theft of wallets, purses and personal belongings from patients or accompanying persons in particularly vulnerable situations, generally during health transfers or in emergency areas.

One woman reported that, on 31 October, while she was waiting to be attended to in the emergency area of the Hospital Clínico de Valladolid, an orderly took her bag, claiming that he was going to put it somewhere else. Minutes later, when she recovered it, she noticed that her purse was missing, containing 60 euros, health cards and a Christmas lottery ticket.

Likewise, on 25 November, a man reported the disappearance of his wife's purse in the Hospital Río Hortega, which contained 300 euros, three bank cards and a Christmas lottery ticket, after being assisted by an ambulance technician who handled the bag while helping them in a ward at the hospital.

In addition, the daughter of a patient reported the theft of her father's wallet on 20 November at the Clínico hospital - containing 200 euros and five Christmas lottery tickets - during his transfer by ambulance to the hospital. The patient arrived at the hospital alone and, when the complainant was able to access the cubicle where he was, she discovered that the belongings were no longer there.

On the same day, another family reported the disappearance of the wallet of a patient transferred by a medical team to the same hospital. The wallet contained personal documentation, a bank card, a Real Valladolid season ticket holder's card and between 30 and 40 euros. The officers specialised in crimes against property detected coincidences in the modus operandi, as well as the presence of the same health worker in several of the services involved. After several investigations, the alleged perpetrator was identified and arrested on 18 December.

During the investigation, it was found that the detainee had already been investigated in previous years for acts of a similar nature. On 11 August 2023 for the theft of 500 euros from a woman's purse during a medical transfer; on 6 July 2019 for the theft of a wallet containing 900 euros from a patient assisted after a medical episode; on 11 June 2016 for the theft of 300 euros from a man assisted after a fall on a city bus; and, finally, on 31 May 2016 for the theft of 1,500 euros from a patient during his transfer by ambulance to the Hospital Clínico.

The detainee was handed over to the judicial authorities, who released him on bail.