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Former DC responder pleads guilty to stealing heart monitors

Man stole 2 monitors from ambulance worth about $15k each while working for EMS company

EMS1 Staff

WASHINGTON — A 31-year-old former responder pleaded guilty Monday to stealing two heart monitors from the ambulances he drove.

Authorities say Kyle Walcott stole the Lifepak 12 Defibrillator/Monitors, which cost around $15,000 each, while working at Lifestar Response in Washington, DC, during November 2008.

The agency had contracts with Children’s National Medical Center and Washington Hospital Center.

The thefts came to light when he tried to sell the Lifepaks to a company in upstate New York — a business he had sold used medical equipment to in the past. The company became suspicious when he brought in the seemingly new and expensive heart monitors, and they traced the serial numbers back to Lifestar, which told them the machines were stolen.

He faces a likely sentencing range of no more than six months in jail and/or a fine of between $1,000 and $10,000, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.