Suspected Hospital Thief Tasered, Arrested At Desert Regional

PALM SPRINGS – A 46-year-old man suspected of walking into Desert Regional Medical Center last month and stealing a briefcase containing a stun gun and a hospital identification card was being held Monday without bail, police said.

Jeffrey Sandoval was arrested Friday — a day after police released surveillance video in hopes of tracking down the thief — and booked on suspicion of grand theft, possession of a drug paraphernalia and resisting arrest, said Sgt. Mitch Spike.

Sandoval is accused of walking into the office of the hospital’s director of security on Feb. 9 and taking the briefcase containing a Bluetooth device, pearl necklace, stun gun, cell phone and hospital ID badge.

Hours after police released the surveillance video footage showing the theft, officers responded to a report of a suspicious person at Desert Regional Medical Center just after midnight, Spike said.

Hospital security told responding officers that they believed the man could be the person depicted in the video, Spike said. He said officers started to question the man, but he took off running through the hospital and then outside, where he tried to hide under a truck.

Officers ordered him to come out and when he did, the man tried to take off again, Spike said. Officers used a Taser to take Sandoval into custody, he said.

The briefcase has not been recovered, according to Spike.