Former Minnesota Paramedic Charged in Theft
David Stevenson Thompson, 36, of West St. Paul, is charged with two counts of felony theft. He is accused in an Oct. 15 criminal complaint, although the thefts occurred between December 2003 and March 2004.
Mendota Heights Police Chief Michael Aschenbrener mentioned several reasons Monday for the delay in charging Thompson.
One is that it took time for investigators to recover the two defibrillators stolen from the Mendota Heights Fire Department. They were traced to North Carolina and Arkansas.
A third defibrillator, stolen from HealthEast, has not been recovered. Besides the defibrillators, which supply electrical shock to arrhythmic hearts, Thompson also allegedly took narcotics from HealthEast. He also allegedly stole other medical equipment, including two pulse oxymeters.
In three interviews with police in April, the suspect admitted the thefts, according to the criminal complaint.
A second reason for the delay in charging, the chief said, is that the suspect had been undergoing intensive drug treatment. Drug and financial problems were motives cited by the suspect.
"I do believe it was strictly related to money problems," Aschenbrener said. "It was easy cash and he didn't believe it was traceable."
Thompson made at least a few thousand dollars from the sales, investigator Brian Convery said. "We were shocked to find out" that the suspect was a person in a position of authority, Convery said.
Thompson received about $900 each for the two Mendota Heights defibrillators. But the one taken from HealthEast, a Medtronic Life Pak 10 defibrillator, was worth more as much as $10,000 new.
Thompson could not be reached Monday. He will have a court appearance before the end of November.
Marty Forseth, ambulance director for HealthEast, said Thompson stopped working for the company in April. Forseth said the suspect, who had been paid about $50,000 a year, worked for HealthEast for less than two years.
HealthEast, under state law, responds to all 911 medical emergency calls in northern Dakota County.
"This is the first time that we've ever had anything like this happen in our system that I'm aware of, and I've been here many years," Forseth said. "Even before we knew he was charged, we noticed there was something that had been going on. We made changes to tighten up policies and procedures."
