Pair suspected in hospital crime spree

Wednesday, March 2, 2005 | 10:57 a.m.

A 35-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman apparently went on a crime spree at hospitals in four Southwestern states, including Southern Nevada, Metro Police said.

Curtis Prindle and Shannon Smock will appear in Justice Court Thursday on charges that they stole purses, wallets, keys and cars from hospitals in Las Vegas.

Metro Police found evidence that the pair had been stealing items from hospitals in California, Arizona and Utah, in addition to Las Vegas, police said.

Prindle and Smock were arrested by police after a routine traffic stop on 72 counts and 75 counts, respectively, of burglary, grand larceny, vehicle theft, auto burglary, fraud and forgery.

A patrol officer stopped an unregistered car Feb. 2 in Las Vegas and found that the vehicle had been stolen from an area hospital, leading to the arrests, police said.

Prindle's bail has been set at $56,000 and Smock's bail is $53,000 on the various charges, according to Clark County Detention Center records.

Prindle is also wanted for robbery in Ohio, police said.

Inside Metro detectives found stolen identification, hospital equipment, hospital checks, billing information, credit cards and personal papers from Nevada, California, Utah and Arizona.

In each state, Prindle and Smock worked as a team, police said.

Smock entered hospitals dressed in scrubs. She scoured lockers, desks, hospital rooms and lounges removing any valuable items, police said.

Prindle, waiting outside, then removed keys from purses Smock had stolen, police said. Then he would locate the matching vehicle in the parking lot and either steal items from inside the car or the vehicle itself.

Metro Police are still investigating the pair and additional charges could be filed, police said.

Hospital security staff were surprised after seeing a television news item about the arrest.

"From time to time, there have been occasional reports of car break-ins," Sunrise Hospital spokeswoman Glenda McCartney said Tuesday night. "It's not an every-day occurrence."

However, Sunrise security officials reported no patients or families have filed criminal reports about anything stolen from inside the hospital, McCartney said.

A University Medical Center security officer refused to comment on the theft.