A New York nurse has been arrested for stealing a dying coronavirus patient’s credit card to buy $60-worth of groceries and gas, police say.
Nurse Danielle Conti, 43, stole the credit card of Anthony Catapano, 70, and used it three days before he died of COVID-19 on April 12 at Staten Island University Hospital North in New York.
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Conti, of Old Bridge, New Jersey, was arrested and charged with grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and petit larceny according to police.
She allegedly swiped Catapano’s American Express card as he was fighting for his life during one of her hospital rounds between April 4 and 12.
Catapano’s 37-year-old daughter Tara Catapano discovered the additional charges and reported it to Staten Island police on April 28.
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‘I can’t believe a person could do something like that to someone fighting for his life,’ Tara Catapano said to the New York Daily News. ‘This is a nurse who took an oath to treat, protect and save patients. It’s disgusting … Never in a million years did I expect any of this to happen.’
‘She is a despicable human being. How would she feel if somebody did this to her parents when they were gravely ill? I hope she gets what she deserves, and loses her license and her job,’ she added.
She said the charges were rung up on the same day her father was moved into the ventilator unit as his condition worsened.
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‘A total of $60.23. That’s what she risked her job for. She took total advantage of my father’s condition. I’m sure she assumed he wasn’t going to make it, and his family wouldn’t notice,’ Tara said.
Conti, who has worked at the hospital since 2007, has been suspended and faces possible termination. It’s unclear if she’ll be paid during her suspension.
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‘Danielle Conti has been temporarily suspended and faces termination in response to the felony charges. We are working closely with the law-enforcement authorities and the hospital is conducting its own investigation,’ a hospital spokesman said.
She had no prior arrests.
