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Kingsport Police Department
200 Shelby Street • Kingsport, TN 37660 ThomasMPatton • 423-229-9433 (Desk) • 423-224-2786 (FAX) |
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NEWS RELEASE | |||
SUBJECT: | Suspects Recorded on Surveillance Video Stealing Purse from Hospital Waiting Room | ||
DATE: | March 21, 2017 | ||
CASE #: | 17-000500 | ||
GENERAL NARRATIVE | |||
On January 8, 2017 at approximately 7:00 AM, a 63 year old woman was visiting a loved one at Holston Valley Medical Center, located at 130 West Ravine Road in Kingsport, in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) waiting room. At some point while her attention was otherwise diverted, her purse was stolen.
Her purse was a large bright orange bag with handles. It contained numerous items to include: 1) Her Tennessee driver license 2) Multiple debit and credit cards 3) Her checkbook 4) Multiple third party checks 5) Her car keys 6) Multiple gift cards to area merchants totaling nearly $150 7) Her medication (both prescription and over the counter (OTC)) 8) A $2,000 set of dental upper and lower partials (false teeth) Unfortunately, the victim had already endorsed all of the third party checks in preparation for deposit, and she also had a list of all of her PIN numbers in her purse. By the time that she filed the police report, the victim had already received a text from her bank alerting her that a sum of $202.50 (likely $200 plus a $2.50 service charge) had already been fraudulently removed from her account. Two other fraudulent withdrawals for $300 and $500 were attempted but declined. A review of hospital surveillance video yielded footage of two suspects (a white adult female and a white adult male) in the act of stealing the purse and leaving the waiting room immediately thereafter. Photos of these suspects taken from that footage have been included in this release. Anyone who recognizes either of them is asked to contact Detectives in the K.P.D. Criminal Investigations Division at 423-229-9429 or call Kingsport Central Dispatch at 423-246-9111. Alternatively, if an individual who is able to supply information related to this or any other case wishes not to be identified, tips can be submitted anonymously via online “Citizen Feedback” forms available at the following link: https://www.kingsporttn.gov/city-services/police-department/contact-us Citizens are cautioned against carrying around endorsed third party checks, as they are easily cashed if they fall into the wrong hands. A check should not be endorsed until the intended recipient of the check is actually at the bank and ready to deposit or cash it. Citizens are also warned not to carry around a list of their PIN numbers. Ideally, all PIN numbers should be memorized then destroyed. Another option for keeping PIN numbers out of the wrong hands is to store them in a secure password guarded application on a smart phone. |
RELEASING OFFICER | ||
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Thomas M. Patton, Public Information Officer
Kingsport Police Department Professional Standards Unit |
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