The Oakland Press, Sterling Heights, Mich.
(TNS)
Jul. 18—Two former STAR EMS workers are facing federal charges for allegedly stealing a USPS collection box from outside an office building in Bloomfield Hills while on duty.
A criminal complaint filed July 16 in U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Michigan alleges Ryan Baugh and Jacob Sandrock took the box from where it was bolted onto concrete at 2550 Telegraph Rd. on April 29; the Bloomfield Hills postmaster reported it missing the next day.
Baugh and Sandrock are charged with theft of government property — punishable by up to 10 years in prison — and obstruction of mail, which carries a penalty of up to six months in jail. Fines can also be imposed.
As stated in the complaint, a postal technician received a call on May 2 from someone later identified as Baugh who asked if he could keep the postal box that he found by the dumpster, and that he wanted it for "personal use/decorative purposes." The technician told him no. That same day, a STAR EMS manager called the technician, stating that Baugh told him he was given permission to keep the box.
According to the complaint, video from the STAR EMS ambulance's camera shows Sandrock and Baugh using a stretcher to load the postal box into the vehicle. As further alleged in the complaint, Baugh can be heard telling Sandrock that they'd have to dispose of the collection box if they got an emergency call.
When they interviewed Sandrock, postal inspectors allege he said taking the box was "f***ing stupid" and that he had thought it was trash because it had been near a dumpster. He further said Baugh told him he had gotten the OK from the post office to take it and that it could perhaps be used as a drop box for medical reports, the complaint states.
Baugh allegedly told postal inspectors he hadn't seen the postal box until the day they took it and thought it was "out of commission" because it was near a dumpster. He also said it was his idea to take it, not Sandrock's, the complaint further states.
The Bloomfield Post Office stated that the collection box has always been there, but the dumpster was new, according to the complaint. The box is valued at $1,800.
Baugh and Sandrock are scheduled for a preliminary examination in federal court on Aug. 8.
A member of STAR EMS management who asked not to be named told The Oakland Press that Baugh, a paramedic, and Sandrock, an EMT, "voluntarily separated" from the company after the incident. The manager said that had they not quit they would have been terminated as the company "does not take (such incidents) lightly." He further stated that the incident is "definitely not representative" of STAR EMS employees and that management could never have predicted it "in a million years."
Baugh and Sandrock are now employed with another EMS company, he added.
Originally Published: July 18, 2024 at 3:39 p.m.
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