FDNY EMT Charged with Stealing from Patient

An FDNY EMT has been charged with stealing $600 from an undercover investigator who was posing as a patient. Luis Carrillo Jr., 43, is facing both felony and misdemeanor charges related to the sting operation that took place last Wednesday.

Carrillo was reportedly under suspicion due to previous theft allegations. The city’s Department of Investigations (DOI) conducted the sting operation with the cooperation of FDNY, and characterized it as an integrity test.

The facts as explained in a DOI Press release is as follows:

• DOI conducted an integrity test at about 3:26 a.m. Wednesday, August 2, on Roosevelt Avenue in Queens, in which a DOI undercover investigator (the “Undercover”) posed as a patient in need of medical assistance.
• The Undercover was transported to Elmhurst Hospital in Queens (the “Hospital”) for treatment, in an ambulance staffed by the defendant, an EMT.
  During the transport the Undercover saw the defendant remove the Undercover’s wallet, which contained $1,100 in marked bills.
• Once the Undercover was dropped off at the Hospital, he discovered that $690 was missing from his wallet.
• A team of DOI investigators conducted surveillance of the operation, and stopped the ambulance after it left the Hospital. DOI investigators approached the defendant, who was in the ambulance, and recovered $600 in marked bills from the defendant’s front right pocket. Investigators did not find the additional $90 that was missing from the undercover investigator’s wallet.
• The defendant was immediately arrested.

The same press release quoted DOI Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber as saying:

• This defendant took an oath to provide emergency medical assistance with diligence and compassion, but instead used his position to steal from an individual who appeared to be in need of care, according to the charges.
  The disgraceful charged conduct stands in stark contrast to the FDNY’s countless EMTs who act with honor and integrity every day, delivering critical care to New Yorkers in need.
• I thank the Queens District Attorney for the prosecution of this matter and the FDNY and NYC Health + Hospitals for their collaboration on this integrity test, which exposed the wrongdoing alleged in this case.

It also quoted Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz as saying:

• At our most vulnerable, we as a city should be able to trust those charged with our care.
• The city entrusts EMTS to do just that and that trust was allegedly violated in this case.
• Thank you to the Department of Investigation for their work.
• My office will hold the defendant to account.

Carrillo stands charged with one felony, grand larceny in the fourth degree, and two misdemeanors, petit larceny and official misconduct.

Here is a copy of the press release: